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. Brady Skjei Jersey . 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. Michael Grabner Jersey .3 seconds remaining, and No. 7 North Carolina held off a resilient No. 25 Virginia team, 54-51, on Saturday. John Henson contributed a double-double with 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (25-4, 12-2 ACC), who have won five straight and 10 of 11. Joe Kocur Jersey . Right-hander Ricky Nolasco and the Twins agreed to terms on a free-agent contract Wednesday, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. http://www.officialrangersproshop.com/Rangers-Henrik-Lundqvist-Adidas-Jersey/ . You can watch the game on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt and listen to the game on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. After starting the month of November on an 0-3-1 slide, the Canadiens have recorded wins in three of their last five outings (3-1-1).NEW ORLEANS -- George Hills confidence in the clutch, cultivated by a deep playoff run just last spring, was never more obvious than when he received a pass at the top of the 3-point arc inside the final minute. The moment Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday backed off Hill in order to defend against a possible pass or drive, Hill sprung into his shooting motion and drained a 3-pointer with 31.1 seconds left. The shot provided a four-point cushion, and Indiana went on to complete a 16-point, second-half comeback for its second victory in as many nights, 95-90 over New Orleans on Wednesday night. "Id seen Jrue back up just a little bit to try to play the passing lane and I had that rhythm," said Hill, who finished with 19 points. "Im a big believer in not being scared to make a play. Sometimes youre going to hit it and sometimes youre not and today I hit it." Hills performance was but one example of how the Pacers poise made the difference against a talented but young Pelicans squad that will need time to develop chemistry after several significant off-season moves, highlighted by draft-day trade that brought Holiday, a former Philadelphia All-Star, to the Big Easy. "They stayed consistent. They stayed true to their offence. They executed down the stretch," Holiday said of the Pacers. "They didnt hesitate or get nervous when they were down and I think that is something to learn from. Me personally, I think I could have executed better, got some of our teammates in the right places, gotten into better plays. Its about learning. You can learn from every loss." Holiday also admitted he did not expect Hill to pull up for his pivotal 3. "I should have been a little bit closer," Holiday said. "Hes hit big shots before. Hes definitely a guy we dont want to take that shot. " But New Orleans had other players to worry about, such as Paul George, who scored a game-high 32 points, one night after scoring 24 in Indianas home-opening victory over Orlando. Former New Orleans forward David West also helped Indiana spoil the home opener for the rebranded Pelicans by hitting four free throws in the final 1:06. He finished with 12 points and said he was not the least bit surprised by Indianas ability to orchestrate a methodical comeback on the road. "Thats how we won a lot of games last year. We trust our ppreparation, the work that we put in and trust ourselves in those key moments," West said. J.T. Miller Jersey. "Weve got guys in this locker room that have confidence thats a mile-high, particularly late in the game. We believe whoevers got the ball is going to make the right play. We came up with another tough win. Were confident in games like this even when a team gets going on us early." Lance Stephenson scored 16 points, Roy Hibbert blocked five shots and Ian Mahinmi blocked four for Indiana, which had 12 blocks in all. Eric Gordon scored 25 points, Holiday added 24 and Anthony Davis had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. The Pelicans led 85-81 after Holidays jumper, but Hibbert scored on a spin move in the paint while drawing centre Jason Smiths sixth foul, then made the free throw to make it 85-84. West then snagged the rebound of Holidays missed jumper and soon after hit the first of his late free throws, giving Indiana the lead for good. On New Orleans next possession, West helped defend Davis miss on a driving layup attempt, and Indiana followed with Hills 3. Trailing 52-36 after Smiths basket opened scoring in the third period, Indiana quickly closed the gap with a 10-0 run fueled by Hills layup and 3-pointer. Holiday snapped the run with free throws after he was fouled on a fast break. Still, George scored 11 in the period, after which he had 24 points, and the Pacers trailed 66-59. Indiana continued to chip away. Hills 3 pulled the Pacers to 76-74 halfway through the final period, then Georges pullup jumper tied it at 76. "We didnt give it away," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "They took the game. I just dont think we had an understanding of the moment in the fourth quarter." NOTES: The Pelicans announced shortly before tip-off that F Ryan Anderson, one of their best 3-point shooters, would miss one to three weeks because of a chip fracture in a toe on his right foot. ... New Orleans native Danny Granger was out for the Pacers with a strained left calf. ... Double technical fouls were called on Stephenson and Pelicans reserve C Greg Stiemsma for shoving one another in the paint after a Pacers tip-in during the second quarter. ... The Pelicans formally introduced their new Pelican mascot, named Pierre, a nod to Louisianas French colonial influences. 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