When the Swedish referee, Andreas Ekberg, was advised by the VAR to consult the pitchside monitor, everybody knew what was coming. And it was the same with Harry Kane, when he addressed the subsequent penalty.
Hard and low into the bottom corner, Kane had his 49th England goal, Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 getting ever nearer. And England had a slightly streaky victory over a Switzerland team who might have been two goals in front before Luke Shaw’s equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
The 78th minute penalty was the big talking point and it was one to make Switzerland and their substitute, Steven Zuber, feel sore. Zuber had jumped for a corner with his back to the ball and, although his arm was away from his body, he knew very little about it when Marc Guéhi, the England debutant, thudded a header into him.
It was a moment to summon up the old line about not being able to jump with your arms glued to your sides but Kane had no time for Switzerland’s grievances. And so England picked up where they had left off last November when they secured their qualification to the World Cup with wins over Albania and San Marino. The momentum remains with them – they have now lost just once in 21 matches; the shootout defeat to Italy at the Euro 2020 final.
There were holes in the performance, the balance missing, especially in the first half, when Gareth Southgate’s team looked too open in his experimental 3-5-2 system, which featured Conor Gallagher, on his first England start, and Mason Mount as driving No 8s.
Switzerland had gone in front through Breel Embolo and it was at this point that England wobbled. With the Wembley crowd subdued and Xherdan Shaqiri strutting his stuff, Switzerland were allowed to play. England would be indebted to Jordan Pickford, who made one especially fine save to deny Fabian Frei. Pickford had virtually no time to react when Frei made the sweetest of connections on the half-volley from a corner but the goalkeeper flung up a hand to tip the ball against the crossbar.
Southgate could be happy at the spirit that his players showed to turn the tide and Shaw’s goal was a big moment – both for the team and himself. The Manchester United player has endured a difficult season and there was plenty of feeling behind his rocket from the edge of the area, not to mention shades of his finish against Italy in the Euro final. The first-time, left-footed connection was again so pure, albeit it was from further out.
The time is short before the World Cup. England have only two more camps after this one and it was the first of just two friendlies – the second is against Ivory Coast here on Tuesday night.
Southgate tried Phil Foden up front at the outset alongside Kane, although the Manchester City attacker had the licence to roam. Foden would be moved to a No 10 role on the hour when Southgate made four changes and went to a 4-2-3-1 formation. One of the substitutes was Tyrick Mitchell, making his debut at left-back, and another was Declan Rice, who brought great assurance in midfield.
Southgate’s selection is rarely simple and, after the raft of withdrawals from his squad, he had to cope with the loss of John Stones to a minor injury in the warm-up. Ben White stepped in for him in the back three and he will not enjoy the inquest into the Switzerland goal, which came hard on the heels of Granit Xhaka extending Pickford on 22 minutes.
White appeared unaware of Embolo behind him and, when he woke up, it was too late. Shaqiri dropped over a lovely cross; Embolo’s headed finish was clinical. In the previous phase of play, Silvan Widmer looked to have broken into an offside position but it was not spotted.
Embolo’s goal ignited a purple patch for his team while England were unnerved. Shaqiri saw a shot deflect out for a corner and, from it, Pickford made his wonder save to deny Frei. He would also keep out Ricardo Rodriguez’s swerving effort from distance in the 38th minute after a Shaqiri corner had bounced off his near post. Embolo might have done better on the rebound.
Gallagher had taken a Kane pass early on and shaped a curler for the far corner; Widmer headed clear and it did not look as though the goalkeeper, Jonas Omlin, would have got across. But there was little else from England in terms of chances until Shaw’s goal.
Foden pressed Frei towards the corner flag and the defender’s risky pass was intercepted by a stretching Kyle Walker-Peters, another England debutant. The ball broke for Gallagher and, when his low cross ran through for Shaw, the finish was explosive.
Gallagher played with a rare fearlessness. There were times when Jordan Henderson looked exposed in front of the defence, which Southgate would have hated, but Gallagher was determined to make the difference in an attacking sense. He played a chipped through ball for Kane early in the second-half, from which the captain worked Omlin, and Guéhi went close with a header from the corner.
White’s fortunes improved after he was switched to right-back in the reshuffle in the 60th minute. He lashed a drive high and it was his cross that deflected out for the corner which led to the penalty. Conor Coady would be denied by Omlin at the end but, by then, England had done enough.
