Manchester United legend Roy Keane couldn’t resist having a little pop at Arsenal over Myles Lewis-Skelly after England beat Latvia 3-0 on Monday night.
The Three Lions broke the deadlock on 38 minutes when an amazing Reece James free-kick flew past the Latvian goalkeeper to give Thomas Tuchel’s side the lead heading into half-time.
Further goals from Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze in the second half broke more Latvian resistance as England made it two wins from their first two World Cup qualification matches.
Despite his stunning free-kick, James was quite fortunate to be given the opportunity with England awarded a soft foul before the Chelsea man’s opener.
Arsenal defender Lewis-Skelly saw Latvian forward Vladislavs Gutkovskis coming towards him and put his body between the opponent and the ball to win the free-kick.
When asked if it should have been a free-kick, Man Utd legend Keane told ITV: “It was touch and go. I think they were clever winning the free-kick. They [Latvia] were slightly unlucky. Although take nothing away from the free-kick.
“Lewis-Skelly here…he’s obviously learned that well at Arsenal over the years. It’s 50-50. It was smart, it was clever.”
Despite admitting it may not have been a foul in the past, Arsenal legend Ian Wright reckons those kind of challenges should now be given as free-kicks, he added: “You get free-kicks for those nowadays.”
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Evaluating his side’s performance, Tuchel said: “It wasn’t an easy match. We had to unlock it. I saw a lot of good things. We have a good result, another clean sheet, we created a lot of chances from set-pieces.
“We needed a free-kick to unlock it but in general, I’m happy with the attitude and the energy and desire to do the stuff that we want and we will get there.”
On James’ free-kick, Tuchel added: “I know the foot and the quality that the boy has is amazing. He has every right to be proud and happy and satisfied with his performance. He’s in excellent shape.
“When we called him up, we knew he had not so many games but we knew it wasn’t because of injury. They [Chelsea] took care of him and managed him. He looks sharp and looks in shape and about his quality – there can’t be any doubt.”
England captain Kane gave his analysis of the match, he said: “There were definitely more patterns of play, more chances, more creative opportunities but it was tough. We’re playing against a team where it’s 11 behind the ball and they try to make it difficult and we have to use the wide players.
“The guys coming off the bench I thought made a good impact and we can be pleased with two wins and two clean sheets as well.”