SWITZERLAND 0-2 ENGLAND
Roy Hodgson got the win, the performance, and the breathing space he will need, if England are to put the trauma of the World Cup behind them. After a week that threatened to turn drama into crisis, England delivered in what many believe will be the toughest match of their European Championship qualifying campaign.
Euro 2016 qualifier, Basel: Switzerland 0, England 2 (Welbeck 58, 90+4)
KEY MOMENTS
PRE-MATCH: So two changes in personnel for England - Danny Welbeck replaces the injured Daniel Sturridge, while Fabian Delph comes in for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. More pertinently the teams would suggest a change in formation from Roy Hodgson, with Raheem Sterling presumably playing at the point of a midfield diamond, with Delph, Jordan Henderson and Jack Wilshere supporting him. That's a pretty dynamic midfield, and a pretty bold team selection as well - one assumes Hodgson won't be asking them merely to defend.
15 mins: CHANCE - England are gifted a chance by an errant pass by Von Bergen, and they briefly have a four on three with Sterling running at goal. However, Sterling chooses to pass left to Rooney when Welbeck was a better option to the right. Rooney controls and takes a shot, but it's too weak and too near Sommer, who saves with relative ease.
42 mins: CHANCE - England go close again. Delph and Baines fashion some room out on the left and feed Rooney, who cuts inside and swipes a shot towards goal, which Sommer rather unconvincingly shovels away for a corner.
43 mins: CHANCE - That was a much better stop from Sommer: Jones is left unmarked from the corner and powerfully heads towards goal, but Sommer gets down quickly to his left and pushes the ball away. If you were being hyper-critical then you could say with the time and space Jones had he should've given the keeper no chance, but that was excellent goalkeeping.
58 mins: GOAL! WELBECK OPENS THE SCORING! And finally it pays off. England counter impressively down the left, Rooney feeds Sterling as the defence opens up, the Liverpool man plays an excellent first-time pass across to Welbeck who tucks it (perhaps off a shin) into the corner of the net.
70 mins: CHANCE - Huge chance for Switzerland, as Drmic is set through on goal, despite looking slightly offside. He goes round Hart and tries to slot it home, but Cahill is there to block the effort. The Swiss claim handball, and while it did strike Cahill's arm as he slid, that would have been a very harsh penalty.
90 mins+4: GOAL! WELBECK SEALS IT! That's that, as England counter and Sterling feeds Lambert, who likewise passes on to Welbeck, who takes his time and slots the ball into the far corner with a cool, cool finish.
KEY STATS
England had just three shots on target throughout the game, and two of them went in.
Switzerland actually had more of the ball, enjoying 56% possession as opposed to England's 44%
MAN OF THE MATCH
Raheem Sterling - England: He really is a special talent, this lad. The Liverpool forward was played in a central role at the tip of a midfield diamond, as he does for Liverpool, and he excelled for Hodgson just as he has for Brendan Rodgers. If he continues like that then Liverpool might not miss Luis Suarez that much - and England could have their next star.
PLAYER RATINGS
SWITZERLAND: Sommer 5, Lichtsteiner 6, Von Bergen 5, Rodriguez 6, Djourou 5, Inler 7, Xhaka 6, Behrami 6, Shaqiri 6, Seferovic 6, Mehmedi 5. Subs: Dzemaili 5, Drmic 6.
ENGLAND: Hart 7, Stones 5, Cahill 7, Jones 7, Baines 6, Delph 6, Henderson 7, Wilshere 7, Sterling 8, Rooney 7, Welbeck 8. Subs: Jagielka 6, Milner 6, Lambert 6.
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