Gonzalez glad as Chile grind down resolute Swiss

Mark Gonzalez cracked open Switzerland's record-breaking defence to give Chile a 1-0 victory, moving the South Americans to the top of Group H.

The South-African born Mark Gonzalez of Chile headed home the only goal of the game against Switzerland.

PORT ELIZABETH // Mark Gonzalez cracked open Switzerland's record-breaking defence to give Chile a 1-0 victory yesterday, moving the South Americans clear at the top of Group H. Gonzalez, who was born in Durban, South Africa, headed home a right-wing cross from Esteban Paredes in the 75th minute after Chile sprung the Swiss offside trap with a counter-attack. Just eight minutes earlier, Switzerland had set a new World Cup finals record, beating Italy's old mark of 550 minutes without conceding a goal. It was the first goal they had let in at the finals since 1994. "We had some good luck near the end when we got the goal," Gonzalez said. "We just kept trying our best. This was a great moment for me and for our team." Switzerland played most of the match with 10 men after Valon Behrami, the midfielder, was sent off in the 31st minute for apparently elbowing a Chilean player, while Chile also had a goal disallowed just after the break. "It was a very intense match we were very much under pressure, we knew Chileans are fast, strong and on the attack and we had to use a lot of energy to fight back," Ottmar Hitzfeld, the Swiss coach, said. "My team did fight very hard, every single player went out of his mind to fight," he said, adding the sending off "wasn't a red card from my standpoint". Switzerland had a chance to grab a draw in the 90th minute but Eren Derdiyok, unmarked in the middle of the penalty area, shot wide. "We had a 100 per cent goal chance in the 90th minute and 1-1 would have been a just result," Hitzfeld said. * Reuters Man of the match Mark Gonzalez (Chile)