The Swiss were on a four-match winning run that had seen them score 15 times, and after Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak was forced to tip Silvan Widmer’s cushioned volley over the crossbar in the 17th minute, the goalfest looked set to continue. From the resulting Ruben Vargas corner, Nico Elvedi got free and guided a header into the bottom corner.
Murat Yakin’s men looked to press home the advantage as Vargas tried his luck soon after, shortly before Dan Ndoye saw a beautiful effort curl a whisker wide.
Excellent link-up play on the left sent Fabian Rieder through on goal in the 32nd minute, where he caught the bouncing ball with venom, but Oblak made the save with his foot. The visitors’ captain showed his frustrations with his defence, but the desired reaction failed to materialise, as the hosts scored their second a minute later.
Again, they couldn’t deal with a corner, this time from Rieder, and it was too easy for Breel Embolo to nod in his sixth goal in his last five internationals.
It was three just five minutes later, when Granit Xhaka played a through pass to Remo Freuler, who squared it for Ndoye to lash into the roof of the net.
A pair of wayward Zan Vipotnik efforts was all Slovenia could muster before the break, though Zmajceki at least slowed the Swiss momentum early in the second half, as it wasn’t until Embolo drilled a strike wide on the hour mark that the home side created anything.
Five minutes later, Benjamin Sesko used his strength and his deflected strike finally forced Gregor Kobel into a save.
Aside from a Xhaka strike drilled straight at Oblak, there were no late chances for either side, which allowed Switzerland to cruise to a second win “to nil” this international window following their 4-0 victory over Kosovo.
It’s a sixth H2H win in the last seven meetings for the Rossocrociati, who now have a three-point lead at the top of the group. Slovenia remain on one point thanks to their draw with Sweden on Friday, giving Matjaz Kek’s side work to do as they look to qualify for the first time since 2010.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Remo Freuler (Switzerland)
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