ENGLAND 3, SWEDEN 2
It was a game made all the more exciting by a litany of mistakes on both sides but England finally put their decades long hoodoo against Sweden behind them with a nail biting win in Kiev after Theo Walcott came on to rescue them from a losing position.
Olaf Mellberg thought he had finished off England when his brace overhauled Andy Carroll’s opener following his imperious header from Steven Gerrard’s cross but an inspired substitution by Roy Hodgson saw Theo Walcott come on and level matters with a superb 25 yard shot which wrongfooted former Manchester City ‘keeper Andreas Isaksson before turning provider and finding Danny Welbeck with a cross which the Manchester United striker backheeled into the net late in the game.
With defence seemingly not a strong point for either side it was clear that the side making the least errors would have a great chance of winning the game and for a while it seemed as though England’s organisation finally won through against a poor Sweden side for whom Zlatan Ibrahimovic cut a frustrated figure having personally failed to get anything out of England’s defence.
With Sweden out of the running following their second consecutive defeat, England now only need a draw against Ukraine in the final group game to qualify to the knockout phase.