Switzerland battled their way to victory over Hungary as they made a winning start to their Euro 2024 campaign at Cologne Stadium.
Kwadwo Duah justified his surprise inclusion by boss Murat Yakin as he slotted home his first international goal, before Michel Aebischer doubled Switzerland’s lead on the stroke of half-time.
Barnabas Varga gave Hungary hope with 30 minutes left after the striker guided Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai’s brilliantly-weighted cross beyond Yann Sommer.
Substitute Breel Embolo clinched the three points in stoppage time with a lovely lobbed finish over Peter Gulacsi.
Scotland remain at the at the bottom of Group A after the 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany while Switzerland sits second, behind the tournament hosts.
Yakin’s side gained control of the ball from the off and dominated as Hungary created little to nothing in attack during the first 45 minutes.
London-born Duah, who had only played 45 minutes for the Swiss before this game, was slipped in brilliantly by Aebischer before finishing beyond Gulacsi in the 12th minute.
On the stroke of half-time, left-wing back Aebischer cut in on his right foot to expertly place a strike beyond the diving Gulacsi from 20 yards.
In the 63rd minute, Varga missed a gilt-edge chance to halve the deficit as he steered his header wide.
But he responded well, meeting Szoboszlai’s curling ball three minutes later with a deft header to halve the deficit.
Despite being urged on by their fans, the resurgent Hungarians were unable to find an equaliser.
Having only recently returned to action following a cruciate ligament injury, Monaco striker Embolo was introduced off the bench in the 74th minute and pounced on a defensive error to slot home in the third minute of added time and settle the outcome.
The Swiss face Scotland next in Cologne on Wednesday – live on BBC One – while Hungary take on Germany earlier in the day.
Beating Germany ‘looks impossible’ – Hungary boss
Hungary boss, Marco Rossi, was unimpressed by his side.
“We play Germany in four days. I dare anybody to bet one Hungarian forint on us. As of today, that looks impossible,” the Italian said.
A forint is worth about one-fifth of a British penny.
Rossi added: “We had a tactical misunderstanding. We didn’t cope and had time to press them. The first half was very bad. We were too passive.
“I’m not looking for guilty people. I’m the coach and need to take responsibility.
“We had some shortcomings in individual performances. There aren’t many strategies to stop individual mistakes.”
A happier Switzerland boss, Murat Yakin, said: “I liken football to chess, and today we got our tactics right. We used this formation for a particular reason.
“We focused on making the most of our strengths, and we made our opponents’ lives very hard in the first half.”
