REECE JAMES saved Thomas Tuchel from a seriously uncomfortable night by bending home a David Beckham-esque free-kick on his England return.
Match Report
Referee Orel Grinfeeld rescued Jude Bellingham from disgrace as he allowed the Real Madrid Galactico to escape a needless second yellow card.
As England laboured against the 140th best national team in the world and the Latvia penalty box resembled an extension of the London congestion zone, Chelsea full-back James ended years of injury torment with a spectacular 25-yard opener.
James had been Tuchel’s man of the match with an outstanding marking job on Raheem Sterling when his side defeated Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League Final.
But since then he has suffered an extraordinary run of injuries and had not started a match for England since September 2022.
Yet James lit up Wembley with a dead-ball effort which out-bent Beckham and rivalled the famous ‘banana kick’ effort by Brazilian superstar Roberto Carlos back in 1997.
Late strikes from Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze gave the scoreline a respectable look.
But it might have been very different had Bellingham received his just desserts for a stamp before half-time and a reckless lunge after the break.
There have long been fears of Bellingham’s frustration boiling over, earning him a sending off in an England shirt - and this was as close as we’ve come.
The Brummie was dismissed for swearing at a ref while playing for Real against Osasuna last month - and this was a serious let-off.
That second ‘bookable’ offence was ludicrous as it took place just outside the Latvian and could have proved costly with England just 1-0 up at the time.
There were four changes from Friday’s routine defeat of Albania - Morgan Rogers given a full debut in place of Curtis Jones, with Jarrod Bowen replacing the underwhelming Phil Foden on the right flank.
In defence, Tuchel selected two of his Chelsea old boys - Marc Guehi, who he sold to Crystal Palace, as well as James.
England had never previously played Latvia but our Lionesses defeated their women 20-0 and on balance of play, this was almost as one-sided.
Still, this was a ‘top-of-the-table’ clash given that Latvia’s little-hopers had defeated the no-hopers of Andorra 1-0 on Friday.
In case you weren’t excited enough by that prospect, there were massive orange fireworks and a rendition of a drum-and-bass tune called Thomas Tuchel’s Army, which doesn’t sound as if it is going to catch on.
While Latvia is crying out for more NATO military presence in case of Russian aggression, there were dozens of British servicemen in the Wembley centre circle wobbling a giant flag.
From the start, it was one of those qualifying fixtures which resembled not so much a football match as an obstacle course with Latvia largely impassive and sitting deep.
Which made it all the more surprising when the first goalscoring chance went to the visitors.
A speculative ball down the right caused a bizarre mix-up between Guehi and Jordan Pickford but Vladislavs Gutkovskis shot into the side-netting.
Pickford was winning his 75th cap, drawing level with Gordon Banks and Joe Hart, leaving only Peter Shilton ahead of him in terms of England keepers.
But, like his panicky collision with Dan Burn against Albania on Friday, this wasn’t his finest hour.
Soon, though, England were peppering the Latvian goal. From a Declan Rice corner, Jude Bellingham’s header cannoned off Marcus Rashford’s back and Ezri Konsa’s follow-up effort was pushed over by Krisjanis Zviedris.
Kane headed over from a James centre when he ought to have scored and Jarrod Bowen might have had a penalty when Zviedris brought him down while trying to collect a cross - but VAR said ‘no’.
Rogers was lively on his first England start and Rashford was looking a little more menacing than he had against Albania, again without end product.
But there was heavy traffic inside the Latvian box and, as the shots rained down, more ricochets than tin-pan alley.
The answer to all these bodies in the way was to wallop one over their heads from 25 yards - and James duly did so.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was fouled and James stepped up to fire home with power and what the pros like to call ‘swaz’.
Just before the break, Konsa needed treatment after a spiteful barge from Gutkovskis and Rogers had a snap-shot well saved.
It was unconvincing again and at the interval, Tuchel asked Rashford and Bowen to switch wings.
Then came Belingham’s moment of madness. Booked for a lunge on Dmitrijs Zelenkovs before half-time, he leapt in on Raivis Jurkovskis near the corner and caught the Latvian’s leg.
It looked to be a clear yellow-card offence but Israeli ref Orel Grinfeeld showed clemency.
Tuchel sent on Eberechi Eze for Bowen as the paper planes began to rain down on the Wembley turf.
Kane drilled one narrowly wide but it was becoming a tough watch before Kane put the result beyond doubt with England’s second, and his 71st in international football.
Foden had just replaced Bellingham when Rashford and Rogers combined on the right and Rice made an artful run to square low for Kane to tap in.
Then Eze jinked down the left and cut inside before his shot took a massive deflection off Antonijs Carnomordoijs.
All’s well that ends well but there is little doubt that Bellingham dodged a bullet.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
6' A crunching challenge by Reece James even has Tuchel wincing from the sidelines
10' Rice has a shot from outside the box and it's blocked by Latvia defender
17' Highlight from England vs Latvia
19' A mix-up between Pickford and Guehi leads to a golden chance for Gutkovskis
20' Rashford goes sprawling in the penalty area but the referee says no penalty
22' Konsa lashes the ball from close range but Zviedris produces a brilliant save
23' Harry Kane heads over from Reece James' cross
32' Rashford's cross finds Bellingham, who gets a shot wide
35' Match Event for England vs Latvia
40' GOAL! Reece James' Beckham-style free-kick opens the scoring! England 1-0 Latvia
41' Bellingham is booked for a bad challenge
54' Highlight from England vs Latvia
57' Bellingham, who is on a booking, sends Raivis Jurkovskis sprawling
62' Jarrod Bowen makes way for Eberechi Eze
64' Harry Kane with a big chance from about 18 yards but it's wide
67' Bellingham, who is perhaps lucky to still be on the pitch, is replaced by Foden
68' GOAL! Rice finds Kane who doubles the lead! England 2-0 Latvia
76' GOAL! Eze's effort takes a deflection into the net! England 3-0 Latvia
85' Another big chance for Konsa and another save by Krisjanis Zviedris
Line-ups
England XI: Kane, Pickford, Bowen, Rice, Rashford, Ngoyo, Reece James, Guehi, Morgan Rogers, Bellingham, Lewis-Skelly
Subs: Henderson, Walker, Burn, Dean Henderson, Solanke, Foden, Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze, Curtis Jones, James Trafford, Quansah, Colwill
Latvia XI: Roberts Savalnieks, Vladislavs Gutkovskis, Janis Ikaunieks, Andrejs Ciganiks, Antonijs Cernomordijs, Raivis Jurkovskis, Daniels Balodis, Krisjanis Zviedris, Aleksejs Saveljevs, Alvis Jaunzems, Dmitrijs Zelenkovs
Subs: Vitalijs Jagodinskis, Vjaceslavs Isajevs, Roberts Ozols, Rihards Matrevics, Maksims Tonisevs, Raimonds Krollis, Niks Sliede, Lukass Vapne, Eduards Daskevics, Deniss Melniks, Dario Sits