Manchester City’s Filippa Angeldal netted twice while Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius was also on target as Sweden defeated Portugal 5-0 in Leigh this evening to set up a UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 quarter-final against either Iceland, Italy or Belgium.
It was all still to play for on the final day of Group C action with no team’s fate being decided before the day’s play. Portugal came into their match at Leigh Sports Village knowing that if they won and Switzerland failed to beat The Netherlands, they could make an unexpected appearance in the quarter-finals. The only thing standing in their way were the second-best team in the world and Olympic Silver Medalists Sweden.
The Scandanavian side had the early run of things and that soon showed in the scoreline. Firstly, a corner was only half cleared from a Patrícia Morais punch and the ball went straight to Angeldal on the edge of the area. The Manchester City midfielder shot first time and found the back of the net.
Angeldal was there once again on the edge of the 18-yard box when she hadn’t been picked up from a lateral free-kick which was played along the ground to her in acres of space. She calmly picked out the bottom corner and threaded her shot through a sea of bodies to double her side’s lead.
Portugal had come from 2-0 down in both of their last two group games but repeating the same feat once again was going to be a tall order. And so it proved to be when just before half-time, a Swedish corner in from the right was attacked by a cluster of players but it was the previously reliable Carole Costa who converted the ball into her own net.
Sweden began the second half on the front foot once again and three quickly became four. A cross fired in from the right struck Diana Silva’s outstretched arm and after a brief moment of thought, referee Stéphanie Frappart pointed to the spot. Kosovare Asllani stepped up and her perfectly-placed spot kick was sent beyond the reach of Morais.
The scoring wasn’t done there. With the match winding down to it’s conclusion, Arsenal forward Blackstenius, who had been denied twice by the offside flag earlier in the game, created a yard of space for herself and hammered the ball right-footed into the roof of the net.
The 5-0 victory secured Sweden’s spot at the top of the table whilst bringing Portugal’s tournament to an end. Sweden had been rather lacklustre in the competition up until today but they easily swatted aside Francisco Neto’s team. Portugal had shown themselves to be a team that never knew when they were beaten but they didn’t really get started today. That being said, they’ve been well worth their money with some electric performances and exciting football against much more established teams in the women’s game.
Next up for Sweden it’s back to Leigh on Friday where they will face the runner up in Group D and they will hope that they can kick-start their tournament after an imperious display today.
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