Switzerland 0-2 England: Danny Welbeck grabs stylish double to ease pressure on Roy Hodgson in first Euro 2016 qualifier

• Danny Welbeck scored just before the hour mark to put England in front
• Raheem Sterling provided the assist and the Arsenal striker finished with aplomb
• Welbeck then added a second deep into injury time to wrap up the points
• Roy Hodgson's side off to winning start in Euro 2016 qualifying campaign
• Fabian Delph made his full England debut but was booked in the first half 
• Joe Hart was forced into a smart save from Haris Seferovic
• Wayne Rooney had his curing effort palmed away by Yann Sommer 
• Phil Jones denied before the break when Sommer saved his header
• Jack Wilshere fired across goal and inches wide seconds after the break 
• Seferovic sent a volley goalwards but Hart tipped the ball over
• Gary Cahill made a goalline clearance to deny Josip Drmic
• James Milner came off the bench to win his 50th cap for England

And that’s more like it. Roy Hodgson got the win, the performance, and the breathing space he will need, if England are to put the trauma of the World Cup behind them at last.

After a week that threatened to turn drama into crisis, England finally delivered in what many believe will be the toughest match of their European Championship qualifying campaign. 

Given the generosity of UEFA’s process, if it wasn’t a statement of the utmost complacency, it would be possible to suggest that with Danny Welbeck’s two goals, England can already start checking out training camps in France.

Having defeated Switzerland in Basle it is close to impossible to imagine this team now falling below the likes of Lithuania (who only put two past San Marino) or Slovenia (who lost to Estonia) to miss out on automatic qualification. Yet this was about more than the group table. This result buys time, wins support, keeps the faith, dumps the baggage of Brazil. Switzerland are not world-beaters — they conceded five against France in the summer, for heaven’s sake, and Johan Djourou is the centre-half — but they are not mugs either. They gave Argentina a memorable game, have a top 10 FIFA ranking and were favourites on the night.

This, therefore, was an excellent result for England, Welbeck’s second adding impressive emphasis to the scoreline. The level of performance, too, was a great improvement. England moved the ball quickly, played on the counter-attack with great wit and new systems, positions and players showed promise.

This was a better England, a livelier England. Not without weakness, obviously, but much improved on last week’s match with Norway — and much of the action in South America.

For Hodgson it was a welcome respite from the brickbats, not least because his decision to play Raheem Sterling behind with Wayne Rooney and Welbeck upfront was vindicated. Faced with the absence of first-choice striker Daniel Sturridge, the manager arrived at an innovative solution and it worked. The trio combined for the winning goal, a classic, zesty counter-attack that reminded of the speed and purpose of the best continental sides.

Sterling won the ball in the heart of the pitch and played it to Rooney, who set off on what proved a game-changing run. Right to left he went, a Swiss guard now in frantic pursuit, before feeding Sterling haring down the left. His cross was excellent, but Welbeck’s finish is not to be underestimated, either. The ball bobbled nastily in front of him, but he kept it on target off his shin at the far post. A poorer finisher could easily have failed that test.

His second, deep into the five minutes of injury time, was more conventional. By now, Switzerland were wide open pressing for an equaliser and Sterling found substitute Rickie Lambert in an unlikely heap of space down the middle. He unselfishly played in Welbeck with only goalkeeper Yann Sommer to beat and Arsene Wenger’s new signing finished like an Arsenal striker to the manor born: one of the good ones, obviously.

Not that it was ever easy for England. It is never going to be until Hodgson can forge a back four as confidence-inspiring as that of — whisper it — the golden generation. Still, Joe Hart was outstanding, on the night as commanding as any predecessor, while the highest compliment that can be paid to Gary Cahill is that he made an intervention to prevent a certain goal that put one in mind of another Chelsea defender, who no longer wishes to be considered on nights like these.

Yes, there are flaws. Jack Wilshere was diligent, unselfish and dynamic going forward, playing as the bottom point of a midfield diamond — but he is not a natural in the holding position and an elite European team would have exploited that. Leighton Baines is yet to convince at left-back and Phil Jones continues to give the impression there is not a plate intact in his house, yet Hodgson would no doubt counter that this is a young, inexperienced team and finding its way after an unpleasant reverse in Brazil.

And, after this, he deserves to be indulged these opinions, however forcefully expressed. That is what this win changes. The Football Association have always stood behind him, but it would have been an increasingly unpopular stance had this game ended in defeat.

Instead, Hodgson can point to green shoots of recovery, with justification. Providing England do what is now a straightforward job of sealing qualification against some very ordinary opponents, Hodgson has close on two years to hone and reinforce, to address the kinks and defects in the group, to find solutions to some ticklish problems the way he overcame the absence of Sturridge and several others. Ross Barkley was unavailable for this game, for instance.

Of course, behind every forward step in sport is often an accompanying slice of luck, and England got theirs after six minutes. That was when Fabian Delph, on his competitive debut, clattered into the back of Swiss captain Gokhan Inler, marginally late. It should have been a yellow card but Delph got no more than a lecture, one presumes because referee Cuneyt Cakir, from Turkey, plays the rule that states if it happens early it is on the house. Just three minutes later, had Cakir applied the genuine regulations around foul play, Delph would have gone after a yellow card was issued for another rash challenge on Stephan Lichtsteiner.

It is to Delph’s credit that he lasted 81 minutes plus additional time without getting into further trouble — and he enjoyed an impressively useful debut, given that handicap — but he got lucky and so did England. Playing Switzerland with 10 men almost from the off would have been a different proposition.

As it was, they were a handful 11 versus 11. Hart made a quite brilliant stop from Haris Seferovic two minutes before Welbeck scored, and stuck out a leg in the first-half to deny the same player, after Baines and Jones had combined haplessly. Cahill’s rescue when Josip Drmic rounded Hart with ambitions to equalise was equally vital, although replays showed the Swiss players had a case appealing for handball as he slid across.

Yet it was not as if England deserved less than victory. Jones had a header from a Rooney corner superbly saved after 43 minutes and a better final ball from Welbeck should have put Sterling in close to the half hour. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect was the absence of caution in England’s play. They did not play Switzerland in the style of Norway after all, but as if in a cup tie. This is a team that still looks at its best when it dares, not least because its prime weaknesses are defensive.

So, for now, and in all likelihood a good 21 months, the pressure is off. Switzerland away is, quite probably, as tough as this group will get, giving Hodgson time to work with this new team in less pressurised circumstances. It was just one game, but the hardest work is largely done.

Next up San Marino at home and Estonia away. One might say it is downhill all the way — but this time in the pleasurable sense of freewheeling, with the brakes off, not walking another treadmill to oblivion.