BASEL, Switzerland -- Danny Welbeck scored twice to give England respite from criticism and a deserved 2-0 win at Switzerland in their European Championship qualifying opener on Monday. Welbeck finished off Raheem Sterlings pass on a fast counter-attack in the 58th minute and slotted in a right-footed shot deep into stoppage time. Englands lead was preserved in the 70th by defender Gary Cahill sliding to block Josip Drmics shot after the Swiss substitute dribbled around goalkeeper Joe Hart. Widely criticized for failure to win a game at the World Cup, England responded by winning its most difficult fixture in Euro 2016 qualifying against the No. 9 team in FIFAs rankings. England is No. 20. "Ive never really lost faith," England coach Roy Hodgson said. "I thought that the way we approached the game from the first minute was exactly what we wanted and we got our reward for once." Switzerland was praised for reaching the last 16 in Brazil, but new coach Vladimir Petkovic begins his tenure with the teams first competitive home loss in four years. Then, England won 3-1 at the same St. Jakob-Park early in Euro 2012 qualifying. "They lacked a bit of calm in their game," Petkovic said of his players. "The first goal is a gift but we reacted well after that". Also in Group E on Monday, Lithuania won 2-0 at San Marino, and Estonia beat Slovenia 1-0. The top two in each group qualify for Euro 2016 in France. The third-place team can qualify directly or advance to a playoff. Hodgson was rewarded for selecting youth in a starting lineup with an average age under 25. The 19-year-old Sterling took Rooneys weighted pass in his speedy stride, advanced into the left side of the Swiss penalty area and slid the ball across goal for 23-year-old Welbeck to score. Though it was Welbecks shin connecting with the ball, Arsenals new 16 million-pound ($25.8-million) signing from Manchester United was perfectly positioned to strike. Rooneys astute play launched the move when the captain seized on his Swiss counterpart Gokhan Inlers misplaced pass deep in Englands half. England merited its lead, though the flip side of the youthful verve which created several chances was a lack of composure in dangerous situations. "I think we created a number of chances which maybe we could have done better with the final pass," Welbeck said. A three-on-one break was wasted in the 29th when Welbeck passed the ball beyond Sterlings reach in front of goal. Earlier, Sterling delivered a slow pass into the path of Rooney whose weak shot was easily gathered by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Sommer excelled diving low to his left in the 43rd to push away a powerful header from Phil Jones at a corner. England goalkeeper Joe Hart stood out saving twice from centre forward Haris Seferovic. Hart stretched his right leg to block Seferovics shot in the 33rd minute after the forward collected a clever Admir Mehmedi pass. Two minutes before England took the lead, Hart stood tall to push away a rising Seferovic shot with his left hand. Elsewhere, Lithuania extended San Marinos 24-year run of never winning a competitive match with two first-half goals. Deivydas Matulevicius scored in the fifth and Arvydas Novikovas in the 36th. Estonia got an 86th-minute winner from Ats Purje to beat a visiting Slovenia team it trails by 54 places in the FIFA rankings. Slovenia was reduced to 10 men in the 78th when Dalibor Stevanovic was shown a second yellow card. Estonia took advantage when Purje pounced on a fourth shot in a goalmouth scramble, after goalkeeper Samir Handanovic twice blocked shots. Estonia hosts England in Tallinn on Oct. 12, three days after Hodgsons team plays San Marino at Wembley Stadium. "They are areas we can work (on) and weve got a couple of years to do so," said Hodgson, who can expect less stress at work after this victory. Steve Young Youth Jersey . Sociedad remained in sixth place with Villarreal a point behind in seventh, both in Europa League spots and in striking distance of fourth place and the final Champions League berth. Sociedad forward Carlos Vela chipped goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez after receiving an equally exquisite lobbed pass from Ruben Pardo to set him up in the 23rd minute at Anoeta Stadium. Matt Breida 49ers Jersey . No surprise there. 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With the new deal TSN retains rights to ESPNs SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and, for the first time, acquires rights to ESPNs MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL.Louis van Gaal says Manchester United are targeting a top-three finish in the Premier League - plus the FA Cup. United are currently in sixth place, just a point behind Manchester City in fourth and five behind third-placed Arsenal.Van Gaals men face Everton, live on Sky Sports, on Sunday afternoon and the Dutchman says United still have plenty to fight for. Still we are capable of being in the top three in the league, he said. We believe in that. The players believe in that. We can win the FA Cup.So we have a lot to fight for. We have five matches at home, three away, which is also a benefit.United thumped Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park back in October, one of their best performances of the season.We controlled the game for 90 minutes, said Van Gaal. We scored our chances and could have scored more. Van Gaal says Everton will be a difficult opponent Everton are a good team, with good individual players, but it was an eexample of how to play away.dddddddddddd Now we play at home.Evertons record is very strange. At home it is not as good as it is away. For us they are a difficult opponent but I hope my record will move on.Sir Bobby Charlton will be honoured at Old Trafford on Sunday, with the South Stand being named after him, and Van Gaal says it is a suitable tribute to one of footballs greats. Sir Bobby Charlton will be honoured at Old Trafford on Sunday I had two big icons when I was younger - one was Jimmy Greaves and the other was Bobby Charlton, he said. Ive had him in my mind for many years. He is such a kind, friendly man.I am very proud that he can get such an honour. Not many clubs are doing that. Im pleased for him. Also See: Man Utd video Man Utd fixtures Man Utd stats Get a £10 free bet! ' ' '