Seferovic double gives Switzerland lift-off

• Switzerland earn their first points after two defeats
• Haris Seferovic scores opening two goals as Switzerland jump to a 3-0 half-time lead
• Blerim Dzemaili hits the third before Xherdan Shaqiri completes the scoring
• Switzerland dominate with 71% of possession and 29 attempts on target to three
• Next games: San Marino v Estonia, Switzerland v Lithuania (15 November)

Switzerland got their first goals and points in UEFA European Championship qualifying Group E with a 4-0 victory in Serravalle to climb off the foot of the table and clear of opponents San Marino.

Following defeats by England then Slovenia, Vladimir Petković's side soon found their rhythm, jumping into a 3-0 first-half lead through two goals from Haris Seferovic and a third by Blerim Dzemaili. The only surprise was that they had just Xherdan Shaqiri's strike after the break to show for their dominance.  
 
Seferovic opened the scoring on ten minutes with a header from Pajtim Kasami's cross, then almost added a second as he slid in to divert a low ball from the right. Kasami rattled the bar with a rasping drive before Seferovic doubled the lead in the 24th minute when he drilled home a loose ball.

San Marino were struggling to get out of their half and Dzemaili added the third in the 30th minute when he nodded in Ricardo Rodriguez's corner. Only a brilliant double save from Aldo Simoncini to deny Shaqiri then Seferovic prevented San Marino from falling further behind before the interval.

After the restart Simoncini was again alert to repel Kasami as Switzerland kept up the pressure, then on 65 minutes he turned away substitute Silvan Widmer's header as the 21-year-old looked to mark his debut with a goal. Switzerland finally registered again in the 79th minute when Shaqiri turned in Granit Xhaka's low cross, before Simoncini stopped a fifth by blocking out Rodriguez's penalty in the final minute.