Match ends, England U21 3, Switzerland U21 1.
England U21England U213Switzerland U21Switzerland U211
Substitute Duncan Watmore inspired England as they came from behind to beat Switzerland in a 2017 Under-21 European Championship qualifier.
Shani Tarashaj put the visitors ahead when he reached Denis Zakaria's pass before home goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
James Ward-Prowse equalised with a penalty after Sunderland's Watmore was fouled by away keeper Yvon Nganoma.
Watmore scored with a deflected shot before he set up Chuba Akpom to side-foot in a third goal in injury time.
The result ensures Gareth Southgate's side move three points clear at the top of their qualifying group halfway through their eight-match campaign.
The hosts only had one shot on target in the first half and fell behind in the 45th minute, before the 75th-minute introduction of striker Watmore changed the game.
Despite only being on for 15 minutes, he scored once and made the other two goals as England won for the 21st time in 25 matches since Southgate took over in August 2013.
Only the top team in each of the nine groups is guaranteed a place in the tournament in Poland with the best four second-placed sides meeting in two play-offs to decide the last two spots.
England play their next group match on Saturday, 26 March with the return game in Switzerland.
| U21 Euro Championship qualifying: Group Nine | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1. England | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 2. Norway | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 3. Switzerland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 4. Kazakhstan | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 3 |
| 5. Bosnia-Herzegovina | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 1 |
England manager Gareth Southgate: "Switzerland are a well-organised team and good one. We had played well up to a point but to find that edge late on showed tremendous character.
"With all the changes to the squad and to come back like that is a great credit to everyone involved in the group. The players will learn that there are different ways to win football matches.
"Sometimes you have to try different things and we had to give Switzerland different problems and the reaction from Chuba and Duncan to come on and play like that has been fantastic.
"There are 14 players that might have been here but you focus on the guys that are here and this was a great lesson for the boys."
Line-ups
England U21
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Pickford
- 2Iorfa
- 5Chambers
- 6ChalobahBooked at 80mins
- 3Targett
- 8Ward-Prowse
- 4Baker
- 11MarchSubstituted forAkpomat 58'minutes
- 10Loftus-CheekSubstituted forWatmoreat 75'minutes
- 7Swift
- 9SolankeSubstituted forForster-Caskeyat 86'minutes
Substitutes
- 12Aina
- 13Walton
- 14Cargill
- 15Forster-Caskey
- 16Watmore
- 17Akpom
- 18Woodrow
Switzerland U21
Formation 4-3-3
- 1MvogoBooked at 82mins
- 2Hadergjonaj
- 4Akanji
- 5Gülen
- 3AnghaBooked at 80mins
- 8ZakariaSubstituted forAjetiat 88'minutes
- 6Bertone
- 10ArazSubstituted forCustodio da Costaat 62'minutes
- 11TarashajSubstituted forUnterseeat 45'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 9Tabakovic
- 7García
Substitutes
- 12Salvi
- 13Wüthrich
- 14Untersee
- 15Custodio da Costa
- 16Follonier
- 17Khelifi
- 18Ajeti
- Referee:
- Andreas Ekberg
Match Stats
Home TeamEngland U21Away TeamSwitzerland U21
- Possession
- Home68%
- Away32%
- Shots
- Home14
- Away4
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away1
- Corners
- Home4
- Away0
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away9
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, England U21 3, Switzerland U21 1.
Post update
Attempt missed. Duncan Watmore (England U21) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Chuba Akpom.
Post update
Foul by Lewis Baker (England U21).
Post update
Manuel Akanji (Switzerland U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!
Goal! England U21 3, Switzerland U21 1. Chuba Akpom (England U21) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Duncan Watmore.
Booking
Joel Untersee (Switzerland U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Matt Targett (England U21) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Joel Untersee (Switzerland U21).
Post update
Dominic Iorfa (England U21) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Ulisses García (Switzerland U21).
Substitution
Substitution, Switzerland U21. Albian Ajeti replaces Denis Zakaria.
Substitution
Substitution, England U21. Jake Forster-Caskey replaces Dominic Solanke.
Goal!
Goal! England U21 2, Switzerland U21 1. Duncan Watmore (England U21) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Matt Targett.
Goal!
Goal! England U21 1, Switzerland U21 1. James Ward-Prowse (England U21) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
Booking
Yvon Mvogo (Switzerland U21) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Penalty England U21. Duncan Watmore draws a foul in the penalty area.
Post update
Penalty conceded by Yvon Mvogo (Switzerland U21) after a foul in the penalty area.
Booking
Nathaniel Chalobah (England U21) is shown the yellow card.
Booking
Martin Angha (Switzerland U21) is shown the yellow card.
