Ukraine booked their place in the Quarter-finals of the European Championships with a 2-1 win over Sweden after extra time at Hampden Park.
Andriy Shevchenko’s side bagged a winner on the 121st minute after hanging on by a thread for most of the game. Sweden will be disappointed to have crashed out of the competition despite dominating tonight.
Here at Anytime football, we look at the major talking points from tonight’s contest.
Emil Forsberg has been the standout player for Sweden
The 29-year-old was outstanding tonight, and with a bit of luck, he could have guided his side into the last eight.
Forsberg managed to score the all-important equalizer in the first half, and he hit the post twice after that. Sweden would have won the game in normal time had Forsberg finished his chances.
The Swedish winger took on the Ukraine defence time and again tonight. His flair and intelligence carved the away side open, and Ukraine were lucky to hold on.
Forsberg has 4 goals in the tournament; only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals in the Euro 2020.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – the man of the match
The Manchester City left-back produced a defining performance for his side tonight.
Not only did he score the opening goal of the game, but he also managed to set up the 121st-minute winner for Artem Dovbyk as well.
Apart from that, he was pretty solid at the back, and he switched up and down the left flank to provide his side with an attacking outlet whenever they needed one.
It was a complete performance from the Ukrainian fullback, and he was the best player on the pitch.
With Danielson’s sent off, Sweden’s strategy went haywire
Marcus Danielson’s red card during the first half of extra time (99th minute) changed the game completely. Sweden dominated Ukraine with 11 players on the pitch, but the tide turned soon after.
The Swedish player was handed a direct red for a nasty tackle on Artem Besyedin. There were VAR checks to ascertain whether the foul was worthy of a direct red, and the officials found him guilty.
This incident is specially significant. Andersson made three changes before (97th minute) the incident, sacrificing experience and quality for fresh legs. They substituted Dejan Kulusevski, Alexander Isak and Sebastian Larsson with lesser known faces. Perhaps he wanted to wrap up the match in Extra-time itself. This backfired heavily, as Sweden lost a player and quality on pitch.
The visitors gained confidence and belief after Danielson’s dismissal, and they managed to create the last gasp winner eventually.
