Sweden has set course for the round of 16 with its first victory at the European Football Championship. The team of national coach Janne Andersson defeated Slovakia 1-0 (0-0) in St. Petersburg and now has four points before their eyes on the knockout round. The Leipzig Bundesliga professional Emil Forsberg (77th) scored a decisive penalty for the Swedes in front of 20,000 spectators. For the Scandinavians, a draw in the last game against Poland was enough. The outsider Slovakia, weakened by a corona case, still has a chance of progressing despite the defeat with three points.
Both teams started the game unspectacularly.
The header of the Slovak six-man Juraj Kucka after a corner, which went well over the goal, was one of the better chances of the opening phase (5th).
The Slovaks initially withdrew a little further - probably also because of the opening victory against Poland in the same place.
Sweden were forced to shape the game, which they failed for one half.
The Leipzig star player Forsberg skillfully prevailed in the 22nd minute, but his pass into the top, which was again occupied by Marcus Berg and Alexander Isak, landed on the opponent.
In the very respectable 0-0 win against Spain at the start, the Scandinavians were almost exclusively challenged on the defensive, which the selection of national coach Janne Andersson had resolved strongly.
“We have a slightly different tactical approach than against Spain,” the 58-year-old announced for the game against Slovakia.
The 21-year-old Dejan Kulusevski, whose corona infection had caused a stir in the Swedish camp in the immediate EM preparations, was back in good health on the bench in St. Petersburg.
For the Slovaks, Denis Vavro was out due to Corona shortly before the game - it did not affect the kick-off of the game.
Only a few spectators sat in the huge arena in the afternoon.
The Swedish chants could be heard much louder.
The Scandinavians last survived the preliminary round of a European Championship in 2004.
The longing is correspondingly great to finally get through without the injured superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
For this, the Andersson selection must of course shine more consistently and offensively - as at least approximately in the last half hour on Friday. The game became more open as the playing time increased. Isak missed Forsberg's somewhat too steep pass when one of the few gaps in the Slovak defense opened up (53rd). On the other hand, Kucka failed with his head at the strongly reacting Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen (58th). In the Slovak goal, Martin Dubravka parried just as well against Ludwig Augustinsson (59th).
Andersson pushed his team forward, especially Isak got stronger. The former BVB striker's header went just over the goal (67th), Dubravka saved another shot (71st), which then underwent the momentous foul on substitute Robin Quaison from Mainz. The German referee Daniel Siebert (Berlin) immediately decided on a penalty, which Forsberg converted.