(REUTERS) – A lethargic first-half performance ensured England’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2012 took a blow with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Switzerland at Wembley yesterday.
Fabio Capello’s side lacked any real spark in their final game of the season and were punished as three goals in the space of five second-half minutes saw the game at Wembley take an unexpected and enthralling turn.
Tranquillo Barnetta started the deluge when striking twice in quick succession for Switzerland as he exploited some unconvincing goalkeeping and inattentive defending to convert two unconventional free-kicks.
Frank Lampard responded inside two minutes when converting from 12 yards after Johan Djourou fouled Jack Wilshere in the penalty box and the midfielder’s reward was to be substituted at halftime.
His replacement, Ashley Young, then proceeded to produce a wonderful finish from a tidy move to make it 2-2 after 51 minutes as England pulled themselves back into contention.
But Darren Bent was guilty of a horrendous miss and Stewart Downing found the side netting in the final seconds as England were restricted to a draw that keeps them just one point clear of Montenegro at the top of Group G having played a game more than their unlikely challengers. Montenegro can go top when they play Bulgaria at home later yesterday.
A Switzerland side that had drawn 0-0 in their previous two matches and were said to be suffering from a lack of quality in attack contributed to an open first half as they took advantage of England’s lack of urgency, and the malaise from the home side was exploited twice in the space of three minutes as Barnetta stamped his authority on the game.
After 32 minutes the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder floated a free-kick into the box that soared over the heads of defenders and attackers alike. However its trajectory took it just inside the post and Hart, anticipating a header, was unable to claw it out.
England were still conducting a post-mortem when, on 35 minutes, Barnetta scored a second. Gifted another free-kick, this time from a tight angle on the left of the box, he demonstrated wonderful opportunism by putting his ball through the middle of the wall.
Hart again was made to look foolish when failing to prevent the ball sneaking in at the near post, but his crumbling wall was to blame for the goal.