Substitutes Johan Manzambi and Ruben Vargas were on fire as Switzerland stunned 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 at the World Cup on Thursday to boost their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages.
The pair came on in the 72nd minute with the score 0-0 and were an instant hit.
Two minutes later Vargas' cross was cleared to Manzambi who opened the scoring, Vargas netted the second himself in the 84th and set up Manzambi for the third in the 90th. Captain Granit Xhaka wrapped up matters with a penalty on the final kick of the match.
In-between, a through-ball from Manzambi to Breel Embolo led to a last-man foul from Tarik Muharemović for which the Bosnia player was sent off in the 80th minute. Bosnia did however get a classy consolation goal in stoppage time from Ermin Mahmić.
Manzambi and Vargas brought some badly needed speed and flair into the game of the Swiss who were the better team but lacked accuracy and were frustrated by Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj.
Victory was sweet for the Swiss after they were held 1-1 by Qatar in their opener by conceding a stoppage time equalizer from a Miro Muheim own goal.
They went top in Group B with four points and are well-placed to reach the knock-outs a fourth straight time. Bosnia, who also played 1-1 in their opener, are not out with one point.
Co-hosts Canada play Qatar later on Thursday. The final round is next week when Canada play Switzerland and Bosnia face Qatar. The top two from the 12 groups advance to the knock-out stages along with the eight best third-placed teams.
