Capello makes winning start
Wright-Phillips claimed the winning goal for England
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Wednesday, 06, Feb 2008 11:03
Fabio Capello has made a winning start to his reign as England manager as his side beat Switzerland 2-1 at Wembley.
Jermaine Jenas scored the first just before half-time and, although Switzerland equalised midway through the second half, Shaun Wright-Phillips snatched the winner for the home side.
Capello played with Wayne Rooney as a lone striker with five across midfield however his side looked uncomfortable with the new system and the midfielders failed to get far enough forward to support Rooney.
Despite having five men across midfield England did not pass the ball well in what became a congested area of the pitch.
Switzerland showed glimpses of good play but on the whole were happy to restrict England's progress during the opening period.
Towards the end of the half England began to click into gear as some passes finally found their range. Jenas broke down the left flank but Joe Cole could not find the target.
However a few minutes later the pair combined for England's first goal. Steven Gerrard found Cole with a well-placed through-ball, the Chelsea man beat his marker and provided Jenas with a simple tap in.
At the beginning of the second half Rooney was presented with two scoring chances but failed to find the net with either effort.
First his controlled shot was easily saved when a first-time strike may have been better. He then tried a chip from the edge of the area instead of laying the ball back to Gerrard and his shot ended up on the roof of the net.
England paid for not capitalising on those chances when Switzerland equalised. Capello's men were caught by a fast break orchestrated by Hakan Yakin. The midfielder played in substitute Eren Derdiyok who slotted the ball under David James.
To the relief of Capello and the Wembley crowd parity lasted for just four minutes as England substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips restored the home side's lead. Once more the goal-scorer had little to do thanks to great build-up work by Gerrard.
Following the introduction of Peter Crouch England began to take command of the game and were able to relieve any pressure by playing the ball up to the Liverpool striker.
Despite having won the match Capello will have to decide whether to persevere with his formation when England face France in March.