I’M RIGHT BEHIND ROO...
Kane now level with Sir Bobby Charlton and closes in on record held by Wayne
NO CHANCE of a Panenka. Just a bullet from the right boot into the corner and Harry Kane was level with Sir Bobby Charlton in England’s all-time goalscoring chart.
Gary Lineker would have been sitting at home, smiling at the irony. Or grimacing.
Harry Kane’s 49th goal for his country sent him above the man who is the face of Match of the Day – and it was from the penalty spot.
Lineker, of course, had the same opportunity against Brazil 30 years ago – and blew it by being too clever for his own good. At the same east end of Wembley as well, although the stadium has long been rebuilt.
Lineker remained one goal shy of Sir Bobby and has regretted it ever since.
Now only Wayne Rooney sits above the striker – and Kane will fancy his chances of scoring the five goals he needs to take the record.
It was fitting that a milestone goal was the winner.
It came in the 78th minute after a VAR check advised referee Andreas Ekberg to check the pitch-side monitor to see if Steven Zuber had handled Marc Guehi’s header. He had – and up stepped Kane to batter a shot past Jonas Omlin.
Switzerland had taken a deserved first-half lead through Breel Embolo.
But England pegged them back just before the break with Luke Shaw’s thrashed equaliser.
Gareth Southgate (right) will be delighted that his young side found a way to win.
They have started World Cup year by stretching their unbeaten run to 21 games.
Southgate’s squad has been stripped of some serious talent.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kalvin Phillips, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tammy Abraham. The list goes on.
So when John Stones pulled up in the warm-up, it meant
Ben White was drafted into a three-man rearguard for his third England appearance.
Alongside him was debutant Guehi and Conor Coady, the daddy of defence despite winning just his ninth cap.
There was another talented new boy at wing-back in Kyle Walker-Peters.
In front of him, Conor Gallagher bounced around with all the energy of a ball-bearing in a pinball machine. Switzerland are no mugs. They will be swapping the Alps for the desert in November after going unbeaten to top a group that included England’s Euro nemesis in Italy.
And in Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka and former Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri, they have plenty of experience.
When Kane stood on the ball after being fed by Phil Foden in the early moments, it appeared this wouldn’t be his night.
He also planted a header at Swiss keeper David von Ballmoos in the second half.
Gallagher also saw his early curling effort blocked by the head of Silvan Widmer.
Xhaka’s powerful shot from distance forced Jordan Pickford into a smart save in the 22nd minute and Guehi was smart enough to clear the loose ball.
But the Swiss were ahead seconds later. Shaqiri sent over a glorious cross and Embolo did the rest with a nod of his head.
Shaqiri then had a shot deflected wide and later hit the post direct from a corner.
Pickford stuck out a powerful paw to divert Fabian Frei’s effort onto the crossbar before beating out Ricardo Rodriguez’s swerving hit.
But England were level in first-half injury-time thanks to Foden’s industry.
The midfielder showed he has graft as well as craft by closing down Frei.
And when Walker-Peters found Gallagher with the loose ball, his pass missed Mason Mount but found Shaw on the gallop and his left-footed strike flew in.