World Cup 2018: Emil Forsberg sends Sweden into last eight with 1-0 win over Swiss
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Deflected Forsberg effort gives Sweden lead
Sweden will play either England or Colombia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup after defeating Switzerland in a strangely compelling but untidy tie in St Petersburg.
Emil Forsberg struck the decisive blow midway through the second half with a strike that deflected off the luckless Manuel Akanji and left Yann Sommer stranded in the Swiss goal.
Sommer had brilliantly clawed away a shot on the turn from Marcus Berg in the first half and denied Haris Seferovic late on but it was undoubtedly a game that was more about missed opportunities than good saves.
Both sides were guilty of squandering good openings - and Switzerland ended it with 10 men after Michael Lang was dismissed in injury time for a push on Martin Olsson, who was clean through on goal.
The referee initially gave a penalty but changed his decision to a free-kick after a review.
That will not bother the Swedes, who have reached the last eight of this competition for the first time since 1994.
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Relieve Sweden 1-0 Switzerland
Has crazy tournament left England as favourites to reach final?
Miss after miss after miss after miss
The bottom half of the draw at the World Cup offers a superb opportunity for a relatively unfancied team to reach the final.
Going into Tuesday's two remaining last-16 ties, one of Switzerland, Sweden, England, Colombia, Croatia and Russia was certain of reaching the final. Of these, only the Swiss are in the top 10 of Fifa's rankings.
And while the match in St Petersburg could not be said to lack passion or goalmouth incidents, the quality of finishing gave the impression that neither side was capable of taking the glorious opportunity in front of them.
The worst miss was by Sweden's Albin Ekdal, who was superbly picked out by Mikael Lustig's beautifully weighted cross but horribly ballooned his strike well wide. A header would have been a much better option.
Striker Marcus Berg snatched a shot off target too after Ola Toivonen's deft flick created the opening and had another effort blocked.
But it was not just the Swedes who were guilty of profligacy in front of goal.
Steven Zuber was off target with a near-post header and later exchanged a series of passes with Blerim Dzemaili, who had a great opening from 16 yards but again showed a lack of composure that let the game down at key moments.
There were 30 shots from Sweden and Switzerland but only seven on target in totalObdurate Swedes triumph once more
Sweden finished ahead of the Netherlands in their qualifying group and then defeated Italy in a play-off tie to reach the World Cup. Once here they finished top of a group that included champions Germany.
Underestimate them at your peril.
They averaged 38% possession in the group stage and just 33% against the Swiss, but they probably created more good scoring chances than their opponents.
They were organised and obdurate, playing with a discipline that allowed them to frustrate the Swiss and try to strike on the counter.
They have a team that lacks star quality in the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era but they know what they are good at - and how to win football matches.
And when at the end the Swiss pressed for an equaliser, Forsberg cleared from close to his goal and several team-mates put in desperate blocks as they showed that they will provide a difficult test for anyone who wants to stop them reaching the final.
Leaving it late - the best of the stats
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Sweden have qualified for their first World Cup quarter-final since 1994.
Switzerland have never won a World Cup knockout match - suffering elimination in all seven matches, including their last four last-16 games (in 1994, 2006, 2014 and 2018).
Sweden have won back-to-back World Cup matches for the first time since 1958, when they won the quarter-final and semi-final on their way to the final as host nation that year.
This was only Switzerland's fourth defeat in their last 15 matches at the last four World Cup tournaments, with three of those defeats coming by a 1-0 scoreline.
This defeat was Switzerland's first since October 2017 when they lost 2-0 to Portugal in a World Cup qualifier, ending a run of nine unbeaten matches.
Sweden kept their third clean sheet in four games at the 2018 World Cup - as many shutouts as they'd recorded in their previous 24 matches combined at the World Cup finals.
Forsberg scored his first World Cup goal for Sweden with his 14th shot of the tournament.
Eight of Sweden's last nine World Cup goals have been scored in the second half of matches.
Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen has kept three clean sheets at the 2018 World Cup, a joint-record for a Swedish goalkeeper in World Cup finals history (also three clean sheets for Ronnie Hellstrom in 1974 and Karl Svensson in 1958).
Berg attempted three shots in this match and has now had 13 shots without scoring at the 2018 World Cup, more than any other player.
More to follow.
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Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text
Line-ups
Sweden
1Olsen
2LustigBooked at 31minsSubstituted forKrafthat 82'minutes
3Lindelöf
4Granqvist
6Augustinsson
17Claesson
13Svensson
8Ekdal
10ForsbergSubstituted forOlssonat 82'minutes
9BergSubstituted forThelinat 90'minutes
20Toivonen
Substitutes
5Olsson
11Guidetti
12Johnsson
14Helander
15Hiljemark
16Krafth
18Jansson
19Rohdén
21Durmaz
22Thelin
23Nordfeldt
Switzerland
1Sommer
6LangBooked at 90mins
20Djourou
5Akanji
13Rodríguez
11BehramiBooked at 61mins
10XhakaBooked at 68mins
23Shaqiri
15DzemailiSubstituted forSeferovicat 73'minutes
14ZuberSubstituted forEmboloat 73'minutes
19Drmic
Substitutes
3Moubandje
4Elvedi
7Embolo
8Freuler
9Seferovic
12Mvogo
16Fernandes
17Zakaria
18Gavranovic
21Bürki
Referee:
Damir Skomina
Attendance:
64,042
Match Stats
Home TeamSwedenAway TeamSwitzerland
Possession
Home33%
Away67%
Shots
Home12
Away18
Shots on Target
Home3
Away4
Corners
Home3
Away11
Fouls
Home11
Away13
Live Text
Posted at
Match ends, Sweden 1, Switzerland 0.
Full TimePosted at 90'+7'
Second Half ends, Sweden 1, Switzerland 0.
Posted at 90'+7'
Attempt saved. Ola Toivonen (Sweden) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Posted at 90'+5'
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Posted at 90'+4'
Video Review: Penalty Kick. Referee decision on field cancelled.
Posted at 90'+4'
Delay in match (Switzerland). Video Review.
DismissalPosted at 90'+4'
Michael Lang (Switzerland) is shown the red card.
Posted at 90'+3'
Foul by Michael Lang (Switzerland).
Posted at 90'+3'
Martin Olsson (Sweden) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 90'+1'
Attempt saved. Haris Seferovic (Switzerland) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ricardo Rodríguez with a cross.
SubstitutionPosted at 90'
Substitution, Sweden. Isaac Thelin replaces Marcus Berg.
Posted at 88'
Corner, Sweden. Conceded by Valon Behrami.
Posted at 87'
Johan Djourou (Switzerland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Posted at 87'
Foul by Marcus Berg (Sweden).
Posted at 86'
Attempt blocked. Josip Drmic (Switzerland) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Ricardo Rodríguez with a cross.
Posted at 86'
Attempt blocked. Ricardo Rodríguez (Switzerland) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Posted at 85'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Ludwig Augustinsson.
Posted at 84'
Foul by Breel Embolo (Switzerland).
Posted at 84'
Andreas Granqvist (Sweden) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
SubstitutionPosted at 82'
Substitution, Sweden. Emil Krafth replaces Mikael Lustig.
SubstitutionPosted at 82'
Substitution, Sweden. Martin Olsson replaces Emil Forsberg because of an injury.
Posted at 79'
Attempt blocked. Breel Embolo (Switzerland) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Xherdan Shaqiri with a cross.
Posted at 79'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Ludwig Augustinsson.
Posted at 79'
Attempt blocked. Michael Lang (Switzerland) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Posted at 79'
Attempt blocked. Johan Djourou (Switzerland) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ricardo Rodríguez with a cross.
Posted at 78'
Attempt blocked. Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Granit Xhaka.
Posted at 78'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Mikael Lustig.
Posted at 76'
Corner, Sweden. Conceded by Valon Behrami.
Posted at 74'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Mikael Lustig.
SubstitutionPosted at 73'
Substitution, Switzerland. Haris Seferovic replaces Blerim Dzemaili.
SubstitutionPosted at 73'
Substitution, Switzerland. Breel Embolo replaces Steven Zuber.
Posted at 72'
Attempt blocked. Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Posted at 72'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Victor Lindelöf.
Posted at 71'
Corner, Switzerland. Conceded by Albin Ekdal.
Posted at 71'
Attempt blocked. Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Posted at 70'
Manuel Akanji (Switzerland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Posted at 70'
Foul by Marcus Berg (Sweden).
Posted at 69'
Attempt saved. Ricardo Rodríguez (Switzerland) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner.
Posted at 69'
Attempt missed. Albin Ekdal (Sweden) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Gustav Svensson.
BookingPosted at 68'
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Source: bbc.com
Source: bbc.com
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