England grinded out a thrilling 3-2 victory against Sweden in a crucial Group D fixture on Friday at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, and in the process knocked out Erik Hamren’s side from the European Championships.
Andy Carroll took the lead for the Three Lions in the 23rd minute, which was cancelled out by a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Glen-Johnson-c15050 own goal in the 49th minute. Even though Sweden went ahead courtesy a brilliant headed goal from Olof Mellberg close to the
hour-mark, goals from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danny-Welbeck-c10233 in the final 26 minutes were enough for the Roy Hodgson’s team to grab maximum points out of the game.
The win lifted England to the second place in the group, level on points with leaders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 and effectively put an end to the Blue-Yellow’s chances of making it into the next round.
Amid an electric atmosphere in the stadium, England began the proceedings ominously, as Scott Parker tested http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andreas-Isaksson-c5736 with his long range shot, but his effort was splendidly kept out of harm’s way by the Swedish goalkeeper.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/James-Milner-c17706 then sent a perfect delivery inside the box for Danny Welbeck only minutes later, who however failed to hit the target from his header.
With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 creating the better openings during the first quarter of the game, it was only a matter of time before Andy Carroll put them in front in the 23rd minute.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196 sent a probing ball inside the area from the right wing, and a burly Carroll rose above the defenders to head the ball into the left corner of the goal.
As Sweden charged forward to get level on terms, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Joe-Hart-c18699.
Ashley Young then had a golden opportunity to double his side’s advantage at the stroke of halftime after picking an excellent one-touch pass from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Cole-c6809. However, he failed to press the finishing button, dragging the shot off target.
Four minutes from the interval, the Swedes managed to restore parity under rather fortunate circumstances. Ibrahimovic blasted a shot straight at the wall from a free-kick, with Mellberg’s effort from the rebound managing to find the back of the net after
taking a wicked deflection of Johnson.
Buoyed by the equalizer, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sweden-c3015 started to play more fluently, and stunned the Three Lions close to the hour mark by going into the lead.
An excellent delivery from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sebastian-Larsson-c32733 from a free-kick from the left was nodded in by Mellberg into the left corner, exposing yet again the weakness of the English defence to deal with set-pieces.
However, no doubts will be caste over the Three Lions attackers after the match, as Theo Walcott came off the bench in the 61st minute and fired the equalizer for his team from a thunderous shot from 25-yards out.
With the match hanging in the balance, it was Manchester United’s Welbeck who stepped up to the occasion, as the striker met a low cross from Walcott in the 78th minute and applied a cheeky finishing touch to put his side ahead.
The goal turned out to be the winner, as England managed to hold on to their narrow lead and secured important three points from the game.
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