Roy Keane can’t resist pop at Arsenal over ‘clever’ Myles Lewis-Skelly | Football

Roy Keane felt Myles Lewis-Skelly bought himself the free-kick which led to England opening the scoring against Latvia, a trick he will have learned at Arsenal, suggested the Irishman.

Reece James brilliantly curled in the free-kick to put the Three Lions ahead during the first-half at Wembley.

It was a stunning effort from the Chelsea man, but England may have been a little fortunate to have the chance at all after a fairly soft free-kick was given in their favour.

Declan Rice rolled the ball towards Lewis-Skelly who was a little too close to Latvian forward Vladislavs Gutkovskis for comfort.

As the England man saw the Latvian coming, he quickly placed his body between his opponent and the ball, arguably instigating contact with Gutkovskis rather than the other way round.

Lewis-Skelly went down, though, and a free-kick was given, which James expertly curled home.

Keane ultimately decided that it was a clever piece of play from the Arsenal man, but suggested something of a dark art will have been taught at the Emirates.

‘It was touch and go,’ Keane told ITV on whether it should have been a free-kick. ‘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.’

Gunners legend Ian Wright suggested it may not have been given as a foul in his heyday but was rightly called now, saying: ‘You get free-kicks for those nowadays.’

Harry Kane scored the second goal for England on 68 minutes, tapping into an empty net from a Declan Rice ball across goal.

Substitute Eberechi Eze made it 3-0 on 76 minutes as he ran at the Latvian defence, jinked through the penalty area and fired a deflected shot into the back of the net.

The Three Lions unsurprisingly dominated the ball and territory but did struggle to break down the stubborn visitors to north London.

Latvia even had a great chance to open the scoring themselves through Gutkovskis, who should have taken advantage of a mix-up between Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi but missed an empty net just 19 minutes into the game.

The victory makes it two wins from two for new boss Tuchel and puts England top of World Cup qualifying Group K.

MORE: Reece James stunner helps England cruise past Latvia at Wembley

MORE: Ex-England defender Stuart Pearce reveals what caused terrifying medical emergency on plane

MORE: England XI vs Latvia: Predicted team and confirmed squad after Thomas Tuchel warning