England 2-1 Switzerland: Player ratings as Three Lions secure comeback win
By Sean Walsh
England came from a goal down to beat Switzerland 2-1 in an international friendly at Wembley on Saturday. Gareth Southgate's team are now unbeaten in eight matches since their Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on penalties.
The Three Lions came close to breaking the deadlock on the 14-minute mark when Ben White's lofty ball forwarded was knocked back by Phil Foden to Harry Kane, releasing Conor Gallagher into the channels and forcing Silvan Widmer into a goal-line clearance with his left-footed effort.
At the other end, Granit Xhaka's strike from range forced Jordan Pickford into a low save, and Breel Embolo towered above White to head home Xherdan Shaqiri's cross after England failed to clear the danger.
Switzerland should have scored almost immediately from the resulting kick off when Fabian Frei's thunderous shot was tipped onto the bar by Pickford.
England missed two glorious chances to equalise through debutant Kyle Walker-Peters and then Kane, though their blushes were spared by a late offside flag.
Southgate's men came under siege again when Shaqiri's corner directly struck the post, before Ricardo Rodriguez brought another top save out of Pickford and Embolo fired the rebound wide.
England found their equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Walker-Peters' endeavour helped win the ball high up the pitch, and Gallagher's cut-back was smashed into the net by Luke Shaw.
Gallagher came close to finding another assist on the other side of the interval when he looped a brilliant through ball round for Kane to chase, but the captain's shot was denied by the face of Jonas Omlin.
From the resulting corner, Guehi's header looked destined to be turned in by Conor Coady at the far post, but the Wolves skipper couldn't quite get a telling touch on it.
The Three Lions were slowly turning the screw, with Kane's cross from Tyrick Mitchell's perfect cross a tame one and White firing over from the edge of the box.
And England were awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR check with a quarter of an hour remaining when Guehi's header struck the arm of Steven Zuber, and Kane stepped up to score his 49th goal for his country.
Southgate's side held on to secure the win and return to action on Tuesday against the Ivory Coast.
England player ratings
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Jordan Pickford (GK) - 8/10 - Made a series of crucial stops to keep England in the match.
Ben White (CB) - 5/10 - Drafted in after John Stones' injury in the warm-up and his rustiness was evident. Beaten far too easily in the air for Embolo's opener. Looked much more natural when switched to right-back.
Conor Coady (CB) - 6/10 - Put his first-half struggles behind him and led from the back well after the break. Unlucky not to have scored on a couple of occasions.
Marc Guehi (CB) - 6/10 - Excelled in his duels and looked a player far more experienced than he actually is. Didn't have a lot of joy playing from the back.
2. Wing-backs & midfielders
Kyle Walker-Peters (RWB) - 7/10 - Grew into his role a few early nerves. Played with aggression and intensity, and had a crucial role in England's equaliser.
Conor Gallagher (CM) - 7/10 - All-action and involved plenty at both ends of the pitch. Made several tackles and interceptions high up the pitch.
Jordan Henderson (CM) - 3/10 - Completely overwhelmed as England's lone holder. Looked more assured when Rice was introduced.
Mason Mount (CM) - 3/10 - Scarcely involved. Sometimes caught too high up when England were trying to build from the back.
Luke Shaw (LWB) - 8/10 - Looked self-assured as he always in an England shirt nowadays. His equaliser was similar to his opener in the Euro 2020 final.
3. Forwards
Harry Kane (CF) - 6/10 - Dropped deep to bring others into play but struggled to carve out clear-cut chances. His penalty was the 100th successful one in the history of the English senior side.
Phil Foden (CF) - 3/10 - Looked way off it. Touch was lacking and was outshone by club-mate Grealish following his introduction.
4. Substitutes
Declan Rice (61', CM for Gallagher) - 7/10 - Helped take back midfield control alongside the flailing Henderson.
Tyrick Mitchell (61', LB for Shaw) - 6/10 - Like Walker-Peters didn't look out of place on his debut.
Raheem Sterling (61', RW for Walker-Peters) - 5/10 - Made little impact.
Jack Grealish (61', LW for Mount) - 7/10 - His ingenuity certainly aided England in their attacking exploits.
Jude Bellingham (79', CM for Foden) - 6/10 - Put in the hard yards following his late introduction.
Ollie Watkins (88', CF for Kane) - N/A