After the 3-0 victory last against Luxembourg, tonight it was time for the Swedish U21 men to receive Italy in a sunny Helsingborg.
Victory was a must for Sweden to maintain its second place in the group and have the chance to reach the European Championships 2023 as the best group runner-up or via the playoffs.
And the start was the best imaginable for blue-yellow.
The lead goal came after a corner already after nine minutes.
The ball was spliced twice in the penalty area before it ended up with Carl Gustafsson on the back surface.
The midfielder pulled from a tight angle and the ball went, via Italian feet and into goal.
Italy took over more and more and pushed Sweden down a lot in the last quarter of the first half.
The Italians had, among other things, a rib hit and a nod from close range which Samuel Brolin parried with a nice save.
Holm received a red card after a kick
But the equalizer came only in the second half.
Nicolo Rovella managed a penalty in the best way and put 1-1 low in the goalkeeper's right corner.
Even though Brolin threw himself in the right direction, he did not reach the ball.
When Sweden chased a lead goal at the end of the match, Emil Holm was shown off.
After being pulled out of the shirt, Holm kicked the Italian player and the referee drew up the red card immediately.
With one man less on the field, Sweden had a hard time putting pressure on Italy and the match ended 1-1.
With the draw, Sweden will be third in the group.
Italy leads the group, one point ahead of Ireland.
The team will meet on June 14 and then it will be decided which nation will win the group.
The U21 European Championship 2023 is played June-July in Georgia and Romania.
The nine group winners in the qualifiers and the best group runner-up go to the championship.
The other eight group runners-up make up four places in the playoffs.