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England beats Switzerland 3-1 in Euro 2012 qualifier
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By Graham Dunbar
September 7, 2010
BASEL, Switzerland — Wayne Rooney put aside the embarrassing headlines back home to score the opening goal for England in a 3-1 win Tuesday over 10-man Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
Rooney shrugged off tabloid stories about his personal life to strike in the 10th minute, slotting home Glen Johnson’s pass for his first England goal in a year.
Substitute Adam Johnson rounded goalkeeper Diego Benaglio to score the second in the 69th, four minutes after Swiss right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was shown a straight red card for fouling James Milner.
Teenager Xherdan Shaqiri gave Switzerland hope with a long-range strike in the 71st, but England substitute Darren Bent sealed the game in the 88th with a clinical low shot.
England coach Fabio Capello’s team seemed in crisis after the World Cup, yet it has started Euro 2012 qualifying with back-to-back wins after having beaten Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley last Friday.
England resumes Group G play at home to Montenegro on Oct. 12, four days after Switzerland travels to face the Montenegrins.
Capello insisted on Monday that it was best for Rooney to play to escape the pressure in his personal life following Sunday ta
The England coach opted to partner former Everton teammates Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott in central defense, with regular starters Rio Ferdinand and John Terry out injured.
England soon mastered a wet pitch soaked by a downpour during the warmups and scored at the end occupied by its 3,000 traveling fans.
Johnson overlapped to the byline and the right back pulled back a pass that was perfectly dummied by Jermain Defoe for Rooney, arriving late and unmarked, to slot home in front of goal.
It was a 26th international goal for the Manchester United forward, who was then joined on the field by a fifth Manchester City player when Adam Johnson replaced Walcott, who was injured in the scoring move. The Arsenal winger was taken to hospital for scan on a suspected sprained right ankle.
Johnson quickly used his speed to beat struggling left back Reto Ziegler and create a chance for Defoe, then cut inside on his left foot to rifle a 25-meter (yard) shot that barely cleared the crossbar.
Defoe just failed to connect on James Milner’s fierce cross, and created space inside the area in the 43rd for a shot that Benaglio beat away.
Switzerland struggled to connect in attack, its only first-half chance was David Degen’s sliced volley over the bar in the 38th.
Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld sent Basel forward Shaqiri on to his home St. Jakob Park pitch for the second half, and the Swiss showed signs of fight when Gokhan Inler went close with a looping shot in the 52nd.
A Swiss surge in the 60th was held up when Milner brought down Lichtsteiner and was shown a yellow card.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart unnerved his defenders and encouraged the home crowd by dropping two crosses inside a minute, before Swiss captain Alex Frei fired a cross through the goalmouth.
But the momentum switched back to England when Milner broke on a counterattack and was brought down by Lichtsteiner near the penalty area.
Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli judged Lichtsteiner had violent intent and sent off the disbelieving Lazio player.
Four minutes later, Steven Gerrard’s pass beat the offside trap and Johnson calmly beat Benaglio for his second international goal in four days.
Shaqiri quickly brought the Swiss back into the game when he cut across the England defense and fired left-footed past Hart from 25 meters (yards).
Rooney made way for a sixth Man City player Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 79th minute.
Defoe had earlier gone off injured, and his replacement Bent finished the one clear chance he got, beating Benaglio from 16 meters (yards).
Lineups:
Switzerland: Diego Benaglio, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Steve von Bergen, Stephane Grichting, Reto Ziegler, Xavier Margairaz (Xherdan Shaqiri, 46), Gokhan Inler, Pirmin Schwegler (Moreno Costanzo, 84), David Degen (Marco Streller, 64), Alex Frei, Eren Derdiyok.
England: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott (Adam Johnson, 13), Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Jermain Defoe (Darren Bent, 70), Wayne Rooney (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 79).
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