Rooney on target as reborn England crush the Swiss

Switzerland 1 England 3. Wayne Rooney put his personal problems behind him in Basle last night, scoring his first goal for his country in a year as England crushed Switzerland 3-1 in their Euro 2012 qualifier.

Going into the game there had been speculation as to Rooney's emotional state following newspaper allegations that he had paid for sex with a prostitute while his wife was pregnant. But England coach Fabio Capello had reassured the country that the 24-year-old Manchester United striker could cope with the pressure, and so it proved as Rooney opened the scoring after just 10 minutes on a wet evening in Basle.

"Wayne Rooney played very well, he was OK mentally," said Capello later, clearly relieved that his faith in his troubled striker had been rewarded. "I told you before the game he had been OK in training. The players can focus on the game alone.  He did that today. He was really happy at the end, as were the other players."

England's victory over Switzerland consolidates their position as favourites in Group G, though they currently lie level on six points at the top of the table with Montenegro, their next opponents on October 12 at Wembley. But that should be a stroll if England continue playing with the same energy and audacity that they showed last night.

From the first whistle Arsenal winger Theo Walcott epitomised this new found confidence and it was his work down the right flank that allowed Glen Johnson to send a low cross into the six-yard box that was rifled home by Rooney for England's opening goal. The celebrations were muted, however, as Walcott had turned his right ankle in the build-up and was stretchered off to be replaced by Manchester City's Adam Johnson.

Johnson, who had scored in England's 4-0 defeat of Bulgaria last week, was quickly into his stride, never afraid to attack the brittle Swiss defence as the visitors searched for a second goal. Jermain Defoe had several opportunities to extend the lead but the hat-trick hero against Bulgaria was off-target in Basle and Rooney's goal was all that separated the sides at half-time.

Switzerland, who had barely had a shot at Joe Hart's goal in the first 45 minutes, started the second period with more conviction but just after the hour mark all hope of pulling back a goal appeared to evaporate when defender Stephan Lichtsteiner was sent off for  a second bookable offence. England seized on their advantage five minutes later when Steven Gerrard threaded a delightful ball through to Adam Johnson, who jinked past Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio and slid the ball into the empty net.

But far from rolling over, the Swiss fought back immediately and the impressive 18-year-old Xherdan Shaqiri unleashed a thunderbolt from outside the England area that gave Hart no chance. The strike gave Swiss fans in the St Jakob-Park Stadium renewed hope but that was dashed two minutes from time when Darren Bent – on for the injured Defoe – struck a low left-foot shoot between keeper and post to seal the victory. And there was more good news for Capello when x-rays revealed that Walcott's ankle was sprained not broken and he should be fit for the crucial clash with Montenegro next month. ·