Set pieces seal Sweden victory

Sweden recovered from their opening 4-0 defeat by UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round Group 7 hosts England on Saturday with a set-piece goal in each half to dispose of ten-man Slovakia. However, England's win against Malta means that Sweden can no longer qualify.

Tobias Lewicki was brought in for Sweden and was a frequent source of danger to Slovakia down the right. However it was Simon Hedlund on the opposite flank who engineered the opening goal with an incisive run which won a 13th-minute penalty converted by Lucas Ohlander. Sweden, who were well served in midfield by the indefatigable Måns Söderqvist, remained on top with goalkeeper Davor Blazevic rarely troubled, though he was relieved to see Ján Dzúrik's header drop just over on the stroke of half-time.

Tomáš Malec came on at the break for Slovakia, who were hoping to follow up their 2-0 win against Malta, but the substitute was dismissed after being penalised twice in quick succession as he challenged for high balls. Two minutes later Sweden made the game safe direct from a corner, Söderqvist's delivery from the left evading everyone including goalkeeper Patrik Gábriš. On Thursday, Sweden conclude against Malta and Slovakia will hope a win against England will be enough to take them to the finals. If Sweden beat Malta, though, Slovakia would need to win by four goals to pip England.

"We had some problems with our passing at the beginning but after we scored it always looked as if it would be our game," Sweden coach Tomas Turesson said. "It was a good result for us and a very satisfying victory. We were able to play much better from an offensive point of view compared with the England game. England put a lot of pressure on us and made it difficult. Our players are not as big as the English players but they worked really hard today."