Euro 2012: Switzerland v England half time report
Switzerland 0 England 1
Wayne Rooney has put his off-field troubles behind him to give England the lead midway through their Euro 2012 qualifier with Switzerland in Basel.
Forward Rooney – at the centre of weekend newspaper allegations about his private life – popped up in the six yard box to tap home Glen Johnson’s precise 10th minute cross, and score his first England goal for a year, on a night where The Three Lions have so far dominated.
Jermain Defoe should have done better when presented with chances by first Steven Gerrard and then Adam Johnson, the Manchester City winger who has come on for the injured Theo Walcott, who sustained a hefty blow to the ankle in the build-up to the Rooney goal and has been taken to hospital for X-rays.
Defoe brought a smart save from goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, as the Swiss has offered very little going forward bar a David Degen volley wide from Alexander Frei’s free kick.
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