Switzerland 0-4 England: Second-half show seals win in final Euro 2022 warm-up

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Alessia RussoImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Alessia Russo scored her fourth goal for England to open the scoring

England hammered Switzerland in Zurich with another second-half show in their final European Championship warm-up.

Alessia Russo headed Rachel Daly's right-wing cross into the bottom corner for the opening goal.

Georgia Stanway doubled the lead with a well-hit penalty after a handball, and then crossed for Bethany England to head in the third.

Chloe Kelly then crossed for another substitute Jill Scott to head in at the back post late on.

England go into their home tournament unbeaten in 14 games under boss Sarina Wiegman after winning all three warm-ups.

The game at the Letzigrund stadium was watched by 10,022 fans - a record for the Swiss women's team.

Switzerland, ranked 20th in the world, face Portugal, Sweden and the Netherlands in their Euros group.

Eighth-ranked England open the tournament against Austria at Old Trafford next Wednesday before playing Norway and Northern Ireland.

England show their strength in depth again

For the third friendly in a row, the depth of England's squad shone through. They have netted 12 goals against Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, despite being level at half-time in all of them.

So Wiegman's side will have been relaxed despite failing to take a host of first-half chances in Zurich.

"We started well. We had three big chances at the beginning of the game and it would have been easy to score those goals but we didn't," Wiegman told ITV 4.

"It's a very good result. I think we showed again we are a very fit team. We brought on substitutes and we also showed again we don't play with 11 players.

"We have so many more players in our squad who can make a change in the second half."

Home keeper Seraina Friedli denied Fran Kirby, Lauren Hemp and Russo - and Daly had a header cleared off the line.

England's versatility showed for their opener. Captain Leah Williamson, playing at centre-back despite being in midfield for recent games, sprayed the ball to Daly, who was at right-back because Lucy Bronze was ill.

Daly crossed for Russo, starting up front because Ellen White had only just recovered from Covid, and the 23-year-old headed in her first England goal since a hat-trick against Latvia.

Just as in their past two Euros warm-ups, the floodgates opened.

England had a header brilliantly saved and Hemp's volley was cleared off the line just before the visitors got a harshly awarded penalty which Stanway slotted home.

England - who came on for Russo after an hour - showed her country's other striking option with a nice header from Stanway's corner near the penalty spot.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Jill Scott, 35, has scored for England in three different decades

Veteran Scott, who had been a doubt to win a place in the squad because of an injury, won her 157th cap and scored England's fourth with pretty much the last action of the game - a goal which was hugely enjoyed by her team-mates.

"She is one of the best team-mates you could ever have on or off the pitch," defender Millie Bright said. "People might underestimate her but she is not to be underestimated at all.

"Her defensive presence, her attacking presence, getting the goal today, I'm truly chuffed for her."

Mary Earps did not have a single save to make against a Swiss side who had lost their last game 7-0 to Germany.

If the Lionesses can just add some first-half goals to their game, they may well be unstoppable next month.

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