A fantastic display of attacking football from Russia proved to be too much for Sweden to handle, as goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin booked a quarter-final meeting with Holland.

Both teams received a major boost before kick-off, with Russia being able to finally call upon Arshavin for the first time at Euro 2008 after his two-match ban expired – winger Dimitri Torbinsky was the unlucky man to miss out. Sweden, who would have reached the last eight with a draw, named an unchanged starting XI after Zlatan Ibrahimovic came through a late fitness test on his injured left knee to take his place up front alongside Henrik Larsson.

Ibra was instantly involved in the action, albeit in comical circumstances, as the Inter ace attempted a scorpion kick in the penalty area only to miss the ball completely and catch Sergei Ignashevich straight in the face.

Russia had the better of the early exchanges though and could have had a decent chance at goal had Konstantin Zyryanov not gotten in the way of teammate Igor Semshov when well placed. They continued to push forward and Arshavin really should have done better with a free header from Anyukov’s cross.

The Swedes looked tired after their gruelling encounter against Spain on Saturday and were being overrun by Guus Hiddink’s men, with Arshavin pulling the strings and going close once more with a shot. The Zenit St Petersburg man was at the heart of the action again with an audacious cross cum shot which Andreas Isaksson was forced to tip over.

The Swedes didn’t heed the warnings and fell behind after 24 minutes as Pavlyuchenko showed why he is so highly rated with an excellent low finish from Anyukov’s centre at the end of a well-worked team move. It was a more than deserved lead for Russia, who were putting on a fine show for the Innsbruck crowd.

The goal seemed to spur Sweden into life though, as they finally had their first attempt through Larsson, who was hoping to score at a sixth major international tournament. The former Celtic man flicked on a cross from Anders Svensson only to see it agonisingly bounce off the top of the bar.

A brief period of sparring followed as Russia seemed content to play the ball around the midfield, before Pavlyuchenko rattled the woodwork with a fine effort from just inside the box. The ball bounced down off the crossbar and hit a Swedish defender and it took an excellent intervention from Isaksson to keep the ball out.

The former Juve ‘keeper was in action once more from the resulting corner with another fine save and his colleagues finally came into the game as first Freddie Ljungberg and then Mikael Nilsson brought the best out of Igor Akinfeev. It proved to be the final action in an action-packed first half which Russia clearly had the better off.

Hiddink’s boys began the second period in the same manner as the first and sensationally doubled their tally. A wonderful move saw Arshavin play in Zhirkov down the left flank and the influential playmaker got on the end of the return feed to put Russia firmly in the driving seat.

The goal prompted Lars Lagerback into a change, with Daniel Andersson making way for the more attack-minded Kim Kallstrom. The switch helped Sweden establish themselves more in the Russian half, but they struggled to create chances – which was typified by Larsson attempting an audacious overhead kick from an impossible angle.

Juventus new boy Olof Mellberg was next up, getting his head on the end of a Kallstrom corner only to send it over the bar, while Anders Svensson ridiculously tried his luck from the best part of 30 yards out.

Hiddink, clearly not happy with his side allowing Sweden plenty of the ball, mixed things up after 66 minutes by replacing Bilyaletdinov with Ivan Saenko, the only player in Hiddink’s squad to ply his trade outside of the Russian Premier League.

The substitution didn’t change much, as Sweden continued to have plenty of the ball without really doing anything with it. On one of the rare occasions when there was a bit of quality from out wide, Ibrahimovic could only find Akinfeev’s hands with his weak header.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so off came full-back Nilsson for Sweden to allow another striker, Marcus Allback, to enter the fray. All that did was spark scenes of chaos in their own defence, as a failure to adjust to the change allowed Zyryanov time and space to fire a deflected shot against the woodwork, before Saenko woefully misdirected his header from the rebound.

As Sweden continued to throw bodies forward, another swift counter-attack produced a great chance for Pavlyuchenko to net his third goal of the tournament, but the Spartak Moscow man could only drag his shot wide. Russia continued to look threatening on the break, but ultimately their two goals were enough to send Sweden packing. Hiddink has now successfully negotiated the group stage in each of his five international tournaments as a Coach.
Russia: Akinfeev; Anyukov, Kolodin, Ignashevich, Zhirkov; Semak, Zyryanov, Semshov, Bilyaletdinov (Saenko 66); Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko (Bystrov 90)

Sweden: Isaksson; Stoor, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson (Allback 79); Elmander, Svensson, Andersson (Kallstrom 56), Ljungberg; Ibrahimovic, H Larsson

Ref: De Bleeckere (Bel)

Ref From channel4.com

A dramatic injury-time winner from David Villa handed Spain three key points and the lead in Group D while Sweden were left to cry over their missed chances. The Spaniards struggled for long spells of the game but were overall the better side. The Scandinavians managed to survive until the 92nd minute but then collapsed under the strike of current Euro 2008 top scorer Villa.

Due to injuries Sweden boss Lars Lagerback was forced to change the side which was successful against Greece. Christian Wilhelmsson, out for the rest of the tournament, was replaced by striker Johan Elmander, who re-adapted himself to the right winger position. In defence Fedrik Stoor stepped in for Niclas Alexandersson.

Following the positive performance against Russia, Spain boss Luis Aragones named an unchanged formation. Marcos Senna was preferred to Xabi Alonso and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas was once again left on the bench.

As expected, Spain were in control of the game from the very start. Andres Iniesta went close with a powerful left foot shot while the Swedes were patiently preparing their counter attacks. However, the Spaniards proved once again to be a clinical side and following a corner kick they took the lead. David Silva crossed the ball into the box and Fernando Torres showed all his scoring talents by deflecting the ball into the net in front of two Scandinavian defenders.

Sweden’s reaction was positive but unsuccessful. Elmander’s effort from the edge of the penalty area only hit the side netting while Henrik Larsson’s lob went wide. Spain looked comfortable and able to keep possession but lost confidence when captain Carles Puyol was forced to make his way out due to a muscular injury replaced by Raul Albiol.

Just before the half hour mark Sergio Ramos should have been booked by the referee for a dive, while an active Elmander went close with a header. Sweden seemed confident at this stage and ready to hit the Spanish defence which had already been weakened by Puyol’s injury. At the 34th minute Stoor delivered a great cross from the right flank for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who controlled the ball scruffily but brilliantly turned around Ramos and beat Iker Casillas with an accurate shot.

David Villa tried to regain the lead for Spain but his screamer was controlled by Isaksson. The pressure was mounting and the Spaniards should have been awarded a penalty just before the break when Elmander knocked down Silva in the box with his right shoulder. The referee waved off the protests but the Iberians felt rightly aggrieved.

During the break Ibrahimovic was left in the dressing room since he is not ready to play the full 90 minutes and Rosenberg took his place.

Spain were again dangerous with Villa but 10 minutes into the second half Elmander was brought down on the right flank by Carlos Marchena, who saw yellow for his foul. Anders Svensson was also booked a few minutes later.

Aragones then opted for a double change taking off Iniesta and Xavi for Fabregas and Santi Cazorla. The substitutions seemed to work but Spain missed a fantastic chance at the 63rd minute. Silva controlled a low pass but his shot from the edge of the box was deflected by Isaksson, Villa jumped into the ball but his tap in smashed into the ‘keeper’s chest. The Valencia ace then crossed into the box before the ball went out but Torres’ poor attempt was cleared by the Swedish defence.

A few minutes later Senna’s long-distance attempt was deflected by the ‘keeper. Sweden struggled to come out of their half while Spain were piling on the pressure. A few corner kicks didn’t help the Iberians to regain the lead but the Scandinavians looked less of a threat without Ibrahimovic.

Larsson stepped in for a tired Elmander with 12 minutes to go and Sweden went close to score with a high ball from the left side which went through the box with no one able to touch it in.

Kim Kallstrom stepped in for Henrik Larsson while Fabregas earned a corner at the 85th but the Spaniards couldn’t create any openings. Just before full time Villa controlled the ball with his chest passed it onto Torres whose effort was once again saved by an outstanding Isaksson. Sweden went up front looking for a winner but Ljungberg’s attempt went out wide.

During stoppage time when both sides seemed to be settling for a draw, Villa superbly controlled a deep ball from Ramos he then went past Hansson and knock it behind Isaksson, almost handing Spain the mathematical victory in Group D and a place in the quarter-finals.
Sweden: Isaksson; Stoor, Hansson, Mellberg, Nilsson; Elmander (S Larsson 79), Svensson, Andersson; H Larsson (Kallstrom 86), Ibrahimovic (Rosenberg 46), Ljungberg

Spain: Casillas; Ramos, Puyol (Albiol 24), Marchena, Capdevila; Senna; Silva, Xavi (Fabregas 59), Iniesta (Cazorla 59); Torres, Villa

Ref: Vink (Hol)

Ref From channel4.com