A deflected shot from Emil Forsberg gave Sweden a 1-0 victory over Switzerland in a scrappy Round of 16 match on Tuesday, sending the Swedes through to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years.
A meeting with either Colombia or England awaits Janne Andersson’s side in the next round, but judging by the fare they served up in St Petersburg, neither of their potential opponents will lose sleep over the prospect of facing the limited Swedish attack.Both teams were wasteful in possession and guilty of the sort of poor finishing and unimaginative midfield play that had boos and whistles ringing around the stadium from as early as the 25th minute.
Switzerland came into the match as the side with arguably the greater wealth of attacking talent, but their four shots on target over the 90 minutes told its own story. Sweden had one attempt fewer on target, with the only difference being that one effort took a heavy deflection and wrong-footed Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer to send the Swedes into the next round.“It’s the biggest goal of my career, one of the biggest moments in my career too. To experience this, to fire Sweden into a quarterfinals together with this group, it feels fantastic,” said Man of the Match Forsberg.
The Swedes were happy to pack the midfield as they have done for the entire tournament and shepherd the Swiss down the wings, surrendering possession while looking to pinch a goal on the counter. Marcus Berg forced a fine save from Sommer in the 27th minute and Albin Ekdal squandered an excellent chance when he volleyed over the bar from 12 metres after getting on the end of a cross from Mikael Lustig.At the other end, Blerim Dzemaili wasted Switzerland’s best chance when he fired over from 12 metres, while Xherdan Shaqiri had an awful day, sending long balls from the wing sailing over the heads of his teammates with alarming regularity. The teams went into the interval goalless and the second half started in a similarly stultifying manner, with the game looking like it was inching inevitably towards extra time and potentially a penalty shootout.
Even the goal had a fair bit of fortune about it. Forsberg’s 66th-minute shot was directed straight at Sommer until Manuel Akanji stuck out a foot and deflected it past his stranded keeper.
