Euro 2020: Sweden vs. Ukraine Match Recap
Ukraine upset Sweden 2-1 in extra-time at Euro 2020 to add another surprising name to the quarter-final draw. Ukraine were underdogs coming into the game, having qualified from their group stage with only 3 points following their narrow win over North Macedonia.
However, they seemed up to the task early on Tuesday and Roman Yaremchuk saw an early shot parried by olsen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Robin Olsen in the Sweden goal and then eventually cleared.
Sweden, on the other hand, were in great form in the group stage of Euro 2020 and entered this game as Group E winners, having beaten Poland and Slovakia and drawn with Spain. They too came close early on when Alexander Isak's right-footed effort went narrowly wide of the post.
Ukraine took the lead in the 27th minute thanks to two of their Premier League stars. yarmolenko" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andriy Yarmolenko produced a terrific cross with the outside of his left boot which was met by a thunderous strike from Oleksandr Zinchenko. While Olsen got his hands to the ball, he was unable to prevent the powerful strike from reaching its target.
Sweden continued to push themselves and found an equalizer around the 43-minute mark in fortuitous fashion. Emil Forsberg took a speculative shot from distance but a heavy deflection left George Buschan with little chance of making a save. The strike leveled Tuesday's Euro 2020 clash at 1-1 heading into the second half.
Ukraine nearly took the lead once again when Serhiy Sydorchuk hit the post. Following Yarmolenko's cutback, Sydorchuk took the shot on first time but saw his effort cannon back off the post.
Next, it was Sweden's turn to be denied by the woodwork. Emil Forsberg came close to putting his nation ahead after a tidy counter-attack. However, he was unable to curl it into the far corner and was denied by the post.
Sweden really turned things on towards the end of the 90 minutes. Dejan Kulusevski and Forsburg both came agonizingly close to sealing qualification to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals for their respective sides.
However, the game headed to extra time and would take a turn with a sending off in the 98th minute. Marcus Danielson was initially shown a yellow card for his horror tackle on Artem Biesiedin. However, after a VAR review, the decision was upgraded to a red.
Ukraine would capitalize on this in the final throw of the game when Zinchenko's cross from the left. Dovbyk found the back of the net with his header and secured Ukraine a spot in their first-ever European quarter-final. Their journey will next lead them to a challenging test in the form of England in the next round of Euro 2020.