Lionesses hit double figures again as Toone bags hat-trick
World Cup qualifier
It was always going to be a question of “how many” against a part-time Latvia side ranked 102nd in the world who were suffering their 15th straight defeat, and ultimately England never needed to get out of second gear as they cruised to a 10-goal victory in torrential rain to continue their 100 per cent winning start to life under new head coach Sarina Wiegman.
Her side’s fourth emphatic victory from four World Cup qualifiers saw Manchester United’s Ella Toone score her first international hattrick, Rachel Daly net twice and Ellen White, Millie Bright, Beth Mead, Leah Williamson and Georgia Stanway all get on the scoresheet too, as the Lionesses hit double figures for the second time in three matches.
The eerily quiet atmosphere on the Baltic coast will have taken some adjusting to for the Lionesses, just three days after they played in front of a lively crowd of 23,225 at Wembley. This match was staged behind closed doors with fans not permitted to attend because of Latvia’s recently-tightened Covid-19 restrictions, which include a curfew of 8pm local time.
Yet perhaps it was a blessing for the home supporters that they were not allowed inside the ground – more than half of which has no roof above the stands – because the persistent downpour was as constant as England’s control of possession.
“It was cold out there but the girls dug deep and we got what we wanted from the game,” said 22-year-old Toone. “To get a first hat-trick was amazing and it’s a night I won’t forget.”
In such soaking conditions, it was never going to be a night for perfect, beautiful football, and for large periods of the evening this non-contest merely resembled a training exercise for Wiegman’s team, but they still set out to press with intensity, create overloads in wide areas and allow Toone and Fran Kirby – on the night of her 50th cap – to thread through-balls through the gaps. Once again, Mary Earps did not have a single save to make.
At the other end, without the efforts of Latvia’s goalkeeper Enijaanna Vaivode, who kept out more than half of England’s 21 shots on target, including saving a White penalty in the first half, England could well have surpassed the biggest winning margin in their history, a 13-0 victory away to Hungary in Oct 2005.
They were not too far off, though, starting with two early, well-taken goals from Toone, before a low finish from White and then Bright’s poked finish at the far post from a White flick-on, which made it 4-0 just after the half-hour mark. Bright and White also saw headers hit the woodwork.
Manchester City’s White, whose goal moved her just two shy of Kelly Smith’s all-time England Women goals record of 46, then had a chance to edge closer to history from the penalty spot, after Lauren Hemp had been fouled, but White’s
spot-kick was well saved to the goalkeeper’s left by Vaivode.
After half-time, a tidy finish from a tight angle from Mead made it 5-0, before Toone completed her hattrick from close range and substitute Daly tapped in the seventh from a couple of yards. After netting a hattrick at Wembley on Saturday, Mead’s goal was her fifth in England’s past four games, and her Arsenal team-mate Williamson fired in the eighth from the edge of the box, before Stanway’s low finish and Daly’s late second inside the area.
The resounding result provided a happy birthday present for 52-yearold Wiegman, who hailed her side’s work ethic. “They put effort in it, that’s what I’ve seen in every moment, they give everything,” she said. “The weather was really bad, the pitch wasn’t very good and yet we did everything we could to get to a high level – all the time, we show we want to improve. Hopefully against Austria [next up, next month] it will be more of a game.”
Latvia (4-2-3-1) Vaivode 7; Voitane 5, Gergeleziu 4, Lubina 4, Tumane 4 (Eglite 77); Miksone 5, Rocane 3 (Girzda 86); Zaicikova 5, Fedotova 4 (Gaike 69), Sevcova 4; Baliceva 4 (Silova 77). Subs Skujevska, Lindermane, Lodzina, Cemirtane, Vitmore, Gricijenko, Brahmane.
England (3-5-2) Earps 6; Bright 7, Williamson 7, Greenwood 7 (Stokes 46); Mead 8, Kirby 7 (Stanway 46), Walsh 8, Toone 9 (Wubben-moy 69), Hemp 8 (Parris 46); England 7, White 7 (Daly 46). Subs Maciver, Hampton, Staniforth, Scott, Russo, Carter.
Referee Katarzyna Lisiecka-sek (Poland).