Sweden 1-0 Switzerland: Huge deflection gifts Swedes World Cup quarter-final spot in cagey encounter
Emil Forsberg's strike bounced off defender Manuel Akanji to send the Swiss home
Sweden needed a huge slice of luck to book their place in the World Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Switzerland.
Emil Forsberg’s heavily-deflected effort midway through the second-half was enough for the Swedes in a game that won’t live long in the memory.
England now know who they will face in the last eight should they beat Colombia tonight, and on this display, they will be licking their lips.
talkSPORT will be live from the Spartak Stadium tonight to see if the Three Lions can do it.
The opening 30 minutes were dull, as if both teams were recovering from belting out their national anthems.
But the first-half ended with a flurry of chances for Sweden. Yann Sommer produced an incredible save from Marcus Berg, before Albin Ekdal spurned a glorious chance from just a few yards out.
An awkward encounter continued that way in the second-half, and the game finally got the goal it deserved in the 66th minute.
Space opened up for Forsberg on the edge of the box and his tame effort was heading straight into Sommer’s arms until it took a huge deflection off Swiss defender Manuel Akanji. A hopeless shot combined with hopeless defending.
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The Swiss piled on the pressure in their bid to reach a second-consecutive World Cup quarter-final, but Sweden were characteristically difficult to break down and held out for a historic win.
There was late VAR drama to spice things up. Martin Olsson was primed to double Sweden's lead in the last minute until he was fouled by Michael Lang, who saw red. The ref originally awarded a penalty but video replays showed the tackle took place just outside the box.
Colombia and England will battle it out tonight for a chance to meet the Swedes at the Samara Arena on Saturday.
Star man
The Swiss goalkeeper provided the game's one moment of real quality with his save from Berg in the first-half and leaves Russia with his head held high.
Moment of the match
The most exciting moment of the game undoubtedly came at the death when Lang barged over Olsson. A penalty was originally awarded to Sweden, with Lang sent off for the last-ditch challenge, but the referee corrected his decision and awarded a free-kick instead after watching the incident back.
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