Fabio Capello made a winning start to his reign as England manager with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Wembley.
Jenas and Wright-Phillips sink Swiss
Fabio Capello made a winning start to his reign as England manager with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Wembley.
England looked nervous and disjointed for much of the opening period, but took the lead five minutes before the interval.
Steven Gerrard sprayed a neat ball out to Joe Cole on the left flank, and the Chelsea man cruised past Stephan Lichsteiner and into the box, before putting the chance on a plate for Jermaine Jenas from six yards out.
Capello's half-time words obviously had an impact as England improved after the break and began to create more chances, only to be stunned by a great equaliser from Swiss substitute Eren Derdiyok on his debut.
But the home side responded immediately, with Peter Crouch flicking on for Wayne Rooney to feed Gerrard and the England skipper rolling the ball into the path of sub Shaun Wright-Phillips to score.
Michael Owen remained on the bench throughout, with Capello proving reputations mean nothing in the new England era.
Frustrated
Before Jenas scored in the 40th minute though, Capello had to endure the first boos of his era as the crowd became frustrated by England's seeming inability to find the right gear, characterised by Gerrard being robbed on the edge of his own box by Tranquillo Barnetta.
The Swiss midfielder shot straight at David James from a narrow angle and Gerrard's blushes were spared.
Rooney swooped in for England's first chance but Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio was able to block, then he followed that up with an unexpected flick past the post.
After a couple more scares for England courtesy of Mario Eggiman and Daniel Gygax, David Bentley and Joe Cole - who with Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand was one of only three survivors from the starting XI against Croatia -began to really hurt the opposition.
First Bentley found a killer pass to release Jenas, but he waited a vital second before trying to centre to Cole and Benaglio swooped to claim.
Then the Blackburn midfielder tried an audacious long-range chip which drifted only just wide.
Then, finally, Cole's trickery paid off as he left Lichtsteiner on his backside before rolling the ball across for Jenas to pass it into the net for his first England goal.
Rampant
Visibly buoyed by that, England began the second half in rampant fashion as Rooney twice came close and Jenas forced a fingertip save from Benaglio.
Capello would have winced however at the ease with which Switzerland equalised. A neat passing move saw substitute Derdiyok fire a first-time shot with his left foot low into the corner of the net.
England's back four will have hoped the speed with which they retook the lead saved them from a rollicking.
Crouch, on as as sub, flicked on, Gerrard surged into the box in trademark style and picked out Wright-Phillips for a finish which was even easier than Jenas'.
Rooney, whose all-round performance deserved a goal, unleashed a thunderbolt from 20 yards which flew just wide. The Manchester United striker continued to torment the Swiss defence, but could just not find the target.
| England |
Team Statistics |
Switzerland |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 10 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 81.5 |
Passing Success |
76.6 |
| 22 |
Tackles |
34 |
| 77.3 |
Tackles Success |
70.6 |
| 54.3 |
Possession |
45.7 |
| 54.3 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.7 |
|
