Mark González stepped off the bench to give Chile a 1-0 win over 10-man Switzerland in the battle of the Group H pacesetters in Port Elizabeth.
Switzerland played a man down from the 31st minute when Valon Behrami was given his marching orders by Saudi Arabian referee Khalil Al-Ghamdi after he fought off two challenges from behind with flailing arms.
Chile finally broke the deadlock after 75th minutes as substitute Esteban Paredes broke the offside trap and kept his cool to reach the byline and cut back a deep cross for González to head home at the back post.
Switzerland substitute Eren Derdiyok looked certain to square the game in the closing moments, but he sent his shot wide from 12 yards out with the goal at his mercy.
Lineups:
Chile: Claudio Bravo; Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Waldo Ponce, Gonzalo Jara; Arturo Vidal (Mark González, 46), Carlos Carmona, Matías Fernández (Esteban Paredes, 65); Alexis Sánchez, Humberto Suazo (Jorge Valdivia, 46); Jean Beausejour
Switzerland: Diego Benaglio; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Steve von Bergen, Stéphane Grichting, Reto Ziegler; Valon Behrami, Gökhan Inler, Benjamin Huggel, Gelson Fernandes (Albert Bunjaku, 77), Alexander Frei (Tranquillo Barnetta, 42), Blaise Nkufo (Eren Derdiyok, 68)
Statistics:
Also see:
Switzerland played a man down from the 31st minute when Valon Behrami was given his marching orders by Saudi Arabian referee Khalil Al-Ghamdi after he fought off two challenges from behind with flailing arms.
Chile finally broke the deadlock after 75th minutes as substitute Esteban Paredes broke the offside trap and kept his cool to reach the byline and cut back a deep cross for González to head home at the back post.
Switzerland substitute Eren Derdiyok looked certain to square the game in the closing moments, but he sent his shot wide from 12 yards out with the goal at his mercy.
Lineups:
Chile: Claudio Bravo; Mauricio Isla, Gary Medel, Waldo Ponce, Gonzalo Jara; Arturo Vidal (Mark González, 46), Carlos Carmona, Matías Fernández (Esteban Paredes, 65); Alexis Sánchez, Humberto Suazo (Jorge Valdivia, 46); Jean Beausejour
Switzerland: Diego Benaglio; Stephan Lichtsteiner, Steve von Bergen, Stéphane Grichting, Reto Ziegler; Valon Behrami, Gökhan Inler, Benjamin Huggel, Gelson Fernandes (Albert Bunjaku, 77), Alexander Frei (Tranquillo Barnetta, 42), Blaise Nkufo (Eren Derdiyok, 68)
Statistics:
| Chile | Switzerland | |
| 1 | Goals | 0 |
| 8 | Shots on target | 0 |
| 8 | Shots off target | 5 |
| 5 | Corners | 3 |
| 21 | Fouls | 24 |
| 9 | Offsides | 1 |
| 6 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 1 |
| 58 | Ball possession (%) | 42 |
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox.
Also see:
