Sweden vs. Spain – Football Match Report – September 2, 2021
Sweden bounced back from conceding an early goal to surprise Spain and come out with a 2-1 victory in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday to take control of Group B.
The match was barely five minutes old when Spain’s debutant Carlos Soler took the guests forward with a smart half volley from Jordi Alba’s cross.
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The lead did not last long as a minute later Alexander Isak, who plays in Spain for Real Sociedad, took advantage of Sergio Busquet’s error on the edge of the box to equalize.
“It’s a shame, we went for the win, and probably during our best period of the game, they scored their second goal,” said Spain’s captain Busquets.
“The team is much more complicated now and we do not have things in our own hands. We went well, but maybe lacked a bit of luck, but we have to continue – there are still a number of matches left, even if the scenario is not the best right now.”
Both sides had chances before Viktor Claesson hooked into Dejan Kulusevski’s center to kick the winner after 57 minutes.
Ferran Torres and Adama Traore were denied equalizers by fine Robin Olsen stops, while Robin Quaison should have sealed the victory for the hosts in the third minute of stoppage time, just to lift the ball over the ongoing Unai Simon and wide after Eric Garcia’s misplaced header.
Group leader Sweden goes up to nine points with three wins from three matches, while Euro 2020 semi-finalists Spain fall to second with seven points after playing one more match.