Sports

Toone hits hat-trick on 'special night' as England put 10 past Latvia


Millie Bright
Defender Millie Bright got her third goal in three matches after scoring twice in the 10-0 win over Luxembourg

Ella Toone scored a hat-trick on what she called a “special night” as England hit 10 goals against Latvia to maintain their 100% record in Women’s World Cup qualifying.

Ellen White grabbed her 44th England goal to move joint second overall in the list of the nation’s top female goalscorers – and also had a penalty saved as the Lionesses were in total control.

Manchester United’s Toone was twice left unmarked and scored the first two in the opening 12 minutes and got her third in the second half, beating the goalkeeper at the near post.

“I’m delighted I managed to get the hat-trick, but more importantly we got the three points which was the main thing we set out to do,” said 22-year-old Toone, who now has five England goals in six appearances.

“It’s been a special night and a very proud moment for me and my family.”

England manager Sarina Wiegman called Toone “a very talented player” and added: “I don’t know how good she will become – that’s up to her. But she’s really talented, that’s obvious. I’m very happy she got this hat-trick.”

England’s other goals saw Chelsea defender Millie Bright convert from close range, Beth Mead produced a composed finish and substitute Rachel Daly tapped in from a few yards out.

Captain Leah Williamson curled home an eighth goal and Georgia Stanway arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner for number nine.

Daly rounded the keeper for England’s 10th – the second time in qualifying they had reached double figures following their 10-0 win in Luxembourg last month.

However, they fell short of their biggest-ever competitive victory – a 13-0 success against Hungary back in 2005.

The latest victory keeps England top of Group D, with four wins from four, having scored 32 goals and conceded none.

A perfect birthday present for boss Wiegman

The result continued a remarkable run of results since Wiegman became England boss, with her four games in charge seeing an 8-0 win over North Macedonia, 10 goals against Luxembourg, a 4-0 success over Northern Ireland and now this easy triumph.

Wiegman, who turned 52 on Tuesday, saw her team provide absolute dominance after she had named an attacking line-up.

She said: “10-0 is pretty nice to have on your birthday so thanks to the squad.

“Sometimes we were a little sloppy and sometimes we need to be tighter on the ball.

“I’ve learnt a lot. There is lots of willingness, lots of quality and depth. We can play high-tempo, a possession-game and move the ball to switch the field.

“We have players who can score. It was hard circumstances as it was not a good opponent, the field was not as good as Saturday [at Wembley against Northern Ireland], it was windy and raining, but you still see the eagerness to score lots of goals and get the game to a high level.”

England had 78% possession, 58 shots – 21 of which were on target – and 24 corners. Latvia, ranked 102nd in the world – 94 places below England – registered zero shots and did not have one corner.

Only the performance of home goalkeeper Enija Anna Vaivode spared Latvia from further embarrassment.

She kept out White’s penalty as the striker missed the chance to overtake Kerry Davis’ total of 44 goals, although White’s earlier goal left her only two away from record holder Kelly Smith’s mark of 46.

‘We don’t want to be watching games which are cricket scores’

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, on ITV4 commentary, felt this was not a good advert for the women’s game. She said: “Uefa needs to invest more in the smaller nations and grow the game worldwide.

“England can only beat what’s in front of them, but we don’t want to be watching games which are cricket scores. A team like Latvia needs more funding, more support, probably a better calendar schedule.

“Latvia have defended for their lives in the second half as best as they can. It’s all about what Fifa and Uefa can do to divert funds to grow countries like Latvia and their leagues.

“Maybe have something like the Nations League in the men’s game – something needs to be done – 10-0 games are not good for the game.”

Player of the match

TooneElla Toone

Latvia Women

  1. Squad number23Player nameVaivode

  2. Squad number11Player nameFedotova

  3. Squad number13Player nameVoitane

  4. Squad number8Player nameZaicikova

  5. Squad number22Player nameGergeleziu

  6. Squad number5Player nameGirzda

  7. Squad number15Player nameBaliceva

  8. Squad number14Player nameSevcova

  9. Squad number19Player nameMiksone

  10. Squad number7Player nameEglite

  11. Squad number10Player nameRocane

  12. Squad number6Player nameLubina

  13. Squad number4Player nameGaike

  14. Squad number2Player nameTumane

  15. Squad number18Player nameSilova

Line-ups

Latvia Women

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 23Vaivode
  • 13Voitane
  • 22Gergeleziu
  • 6Lubina
  • 2TumaneSubstituted forEgliteat 77′minutes
  • 19Miksone
  • 10RocaneSubstituted forGirzdaat 86′minutes
  • 8Zaicikova
  • 11FedotovaSubstituted forGaikeat 69′minutes
  • 14Sevcova
  • 15BalicevaSubstituted forSilovaat 77′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Skujevska
  • 3Lodzina
  • 4Gaike
  • 5Girzda
  • 7Eglite
  • 9Cemirtane
  • 12Lindermane
  • 16Vitmore
  • 17Gricijenko
  • 18Silova
  • 20Brahmane

England

Formation 3-5-2

  • 1Earps
  • 2Bright
  • 3Williamson
  • 5GreenwoodSubstituted forStokesat 45′minutes
  • 7Mead
  • 8KirbySubstituted forStanwayat 45′minutes
  • 4Walsh
  • 6TooneSubstituted forWubben-Moyat 69′minutes
  • 11HempSubstituted forParrisat 45′minutes
  • 10England
  • 9WhiteSubstituted forDalyat 45′minutes

Substitutes

  • 13MacIver
  • 14Daly
  • 15Stanway
  • 16Wubben-Moy
  • 17Parris
  • 18Staniforth
  • 19Stokes
  • 20Scott
  • 21Hampton
  • 22Russo
  • 23Carter

Referee:
Katarzyna Lisiecka

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