This was one of those games, wasn't it, with lots of new faces, who had had little time to prepare and gel, and the match turned out to be lacking in urgency at this crucial stage of the domestic season. However, the good news was that England found a way to win.

It was a very slow start to the match, with Switzerland looking more lively than their hosts. Indeed, they were soon on the attack and Ben White had to clear one dangerous early cross. At the other end, Harry Kane was given a pass but was quickly shut out by a determined and well-organised Swiss defence. Conor Gallagher was one of the few England players looking lively, and his curling effort had to be headed clear as it threatened the goal. Despite all this activity, neither goalkeeper had been called into action as yet.

You knew that the game was struggling to get going, especially when a Mexican wave started up in the crowd! And that was just 15 minutes in. However, with Xherdan Shaqiri pulling the strings for Switzerland, the game saw its first real chance as Xhaka forced a fine save from Jordan Pickford on 21 minutes. But just a minute later the visitors took a deserved lead. Shaqiri was again at the heart of the move and his fine cross from the right cleared a back-pedalling White and there was Breel Embolo to head a simple goal coming in behind the England defender. From a defensive point of view it was a poor goal to concede, but a well-taken header nonetheless.

The Swiss were now on a roll, (sorry for the pun), and they really should have increased their lead as first, Shaqiri's shot was deflected wide, and then Pickford produced a fine save from Fabian Frei's volley at the far post. The goalkeeper managed to get a hand to the ball and push it onto the crossbar and eventually to be cleared away. For a spell Pickford must have thought he was behind Everton's current defence, such was the frailty of England at this point. Over the years regular England watchers do worry when so many new faces appear at the same time, as it always seems to take England half a game to wake up. This was one of those games.

Mason Mount and Phil Foden were not making much headway as we passed the half-hour mark and although Kyle Walker-Peters did hit a post with a shot coming in from the right, sadly for him an offside flag went up, so it wouldn't have counted.

On 38 minutes the Swiss went close again as Renato Steffan's cross-cum-shot had to be headed away by White. Then, a minute later, Shaqiri hit a post direct from a corner and in the resultant scramble the ball fell to Ricardo Rodriguez who brought another fine save out of Pickford before Embolo hit the next rebound over the bar. England's defence had been so un-England like, and was all over the place at times in the first-half. You feared the worse, but football always has the ability to surprise you, and right on half-time England somehow found an unlikely equaliser.

Foden chased down Frei in the corner and the defender's hurried clearance was brilliantly intercepted by Walker-Peters. The ball ran towards Gallagher and his pass inside was met by Luke Shaw, steaming in to thump a really good shot past the goalkeeper, Jonas Omlin It was much more than England deserved, and far less than the Swiss deserved, but the home fans didn't care a jot about that as their favourites were back in the match.

At the break, it was obvious that England needed to re-group, up the tempo and add more urgency. Meanwhile, trying to follow the cricket in the West Indies at the same time as watching this match, England suffered another of their now famous collapses! But I digress, and almost immediately after the restart at Wembley, Kane was put through by Gallagher. As it happened the pass was just a fraction too far ahead of the England striker and although he did get a shot away goalkeeper Omlin was easily able to block his effort. But it was a good sign and to be honest, England seemed to have more control throughout this half.

A minute later debutant Marc Guehi almost capped a steady performance with a goal, but alas his header from a corner went wide. On the hour Gareth Southgate decided to make a raft of chances bringing on several substitutes. One of those was another debutant, Tyrick Mitchell, who became the 100th different player used by Southgate since he became England's manager. With the Swiss also making changes the match drifted into a 'not much happening' mode for a while. Just like the cooks, too many substitutes spoilt the broth!

Suddenly a flurry of activity as on 71 minutes Kane headed straight at Omlin and a minute later White tried to atone for his earlier defensive error by firing in a good shot which only just cleared the crossbar. Then on 75 minutes came the game's pivotal moment. Guehi's header was blocked by a Swiss defender, who turned his back but left his hand dangling. The England players appealed for a penalty as the ball struck his hand and after consultation with VAR, the referee gave that penalty. A bit harsh, but we have seen these decisions given all season, so no-one was too surprised when the spot-kick was awarded. Thank you very much said Harry, and Kane's kick was emphatic! That goal was the skipper's 49th for his country, bringing him level with Sir Bobby Charlton and just four behind Wayne Rooney's record of 53. There was to be no 50th goal for Kane this evening though as he was substituted with a few minutes left, replaced by Ollie Watkins.

The substitutions had affected the Swiss more than England in that second half, and apart from a couple of soft efforts on goal they showed very little after the break. The penalty was the only real talking point of the half, but as I said at the beginning of this report, England had found a way to win when not playing that well, and long may that continue.
  

Source Notes