Blackstenius seals Sweden's knockout place as victory eliminates Poland

The Guardian

2 days ago

Sweden are purring and will fear nobody in the knockouts. This was a routine victory and, make no mistake, tougher tests lie ahead than the obstacle posed by a limited Poland. The underdogs could, and really should, have been put far out of sight before Lina Hurtig completed the scoring and the only quibble for Peter Gerhardsson may be that his players were not more clinical.
Nonetheless they will top Group C if they avoid defeat against Germany and, with Stina Blackstenius and Kosovare Asllani opening their accounts either side of the break, have enough stars hitting form to sense opportunity knocking.
Before kick-off most of the colour in Lucerne, usually picture-perfect with its lakes and peaks, had been brought by Sweden's sizable support. The stifling heat of this tournament's first week felt a distant memory in low cloud cover and, later in the afternoon, a downpour. An obvious point is that cooler temperatures are rarely harmful to the action: some of the matches in this group stage have struggled for tempo but Sweden, impressive in victory against Denmark, had no such issues in the fresh evening air. They tore into Poland and could have been out of sight within 13 minutes. By then they had hit the crossbar twice, first when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd delivered for Asllani to loop a stretching header against the frame. Then Hanna Lundkvist, making ground from right-back, found Madelen Janogy arriving late from the opposite flank to produce an effort that met a similar fate, this time clipping the top.
That was far from the sum of Sweden's pressure. The Chelsea right winger Rytting Kaneryd was a particular menace, almost unplayable through her mixture of speed and balance. One of her darts to the byline brought a desperate intervention from the foot of Kinga Szemik, the goalkeeper, who operates across London for West Ham. Barely a quarter of the game had passed when Filippa Angeldahl slipped into space and cut back for Blackstenius, in the kind of position she relishes, to flash off target.
Poland had kept Germany at bay for more than half of their opener but never looked like restraining Sweden. Two minutes before the half-hour mark Blackstenius corrected her earlier aberration after another slick right-sided move. This time Angeldahl located an intelligent run from Asllani, whose chipped cross was thundered in by the Arsenal striker's forehead.
There was little respite for Nina Patalon's underdogs. Next Blackstenius spun on the corner of the six-yard box and, via a deflection, drilled wide with Szemik rooted. At least Poland were still in the game, their respectable travelling support keeping up the encouragement. While vastly outnumbered in the stands by a nation that has women's football in its blood, the appetite their appearance in Switzerland has stoked can only augur well.
Before half-time Blackstenius went close twice more, seeing the impressive Szemik stand firm to deny her when clean through and then heading narrowly over. Somehow, the contest remained faintly alive.
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There was always the hope Ewa Pajor, isolated during Poland's rare forays, would find a moment of quality. She fired a deflected shot at Jennifer Falk in the 48th minute, perhaps buoyed by the interval addition of Natalia Padilla as a sidekick, and for the first time they exerted some genuine pressure. Poland hope to go down swinging but their brief rush of optimism was quickly snuffed out.
The source was familiar, Sweden's incision down the right flank simply too smart. Rytting Kaneryd was set free to deliver for Asllani again and this time the captain was on point with a firm downward header. It was almost three soon afterwards, Blackstenius being denied first by a block from Oliwia Wos and then a sharp save from Szemik after yet more sparkling play from Rytting Kaneryd.
In a reminder of Sweden's depth, Fridolina Rolfö was handed a late runout. Almost immediately they found the goal that better reflected their dominance. Two other substitutes combined to supply it, Jonna Andersson delivering a corner that Hurtig converted after climbing highest.