STOCKHOLM/ FLORENCE – Sweden came from behind to beat Spain 2-1 and leapfrog the visitors for first place of their World Cup 2022 qualifying group. Italy made it 35 games unbeaten to equal the European record run set by Spain but were ultimately disappointed as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Bulgaria in their Group C qualifier.
Carlos Soler scored five minutes into his debut for Spain to put the visitors in front, but Aleksander Isak leveled seconds later.
Viktor Claesson put Sweden ahead for good in the 57th. Only some desperate defending by Spain’s defenders denied Isak a chance to add another goal on the counterattack.
When Spain and Sweden met in the group phase of the European Championship in June, neither could find the net in a scoreless stalemate.
This time, the two attacks both struck early in a vibrant showing by the Swedes at Friends Arena.
Sweden took control of Europe´s Group B with nine points from three games. Spain fell to second place with seven points from four games.
Only the group winners directly qualify for the World Cup. Second-place finishers face a playoff. “The group is going to be much tougher now,” Spain captain Sergio Busquets said according to AP. “We still have lots of games left, even if we don´t have our fate in our hands.”
Soler was the only new face to a Spain lineup which reached the semifinals of the Euros before falling to eventual champion Italy. The Valencia midfielder took the place left by Pedri Gonzalez, who was given two weeks rest by Barcelona and Spain.
The 24-year-old Soler immediately got involved when he joined in Spain´s first attack. Ferran Torres and Alvaro Morata drew the markings of Sweden´s center backs, allowing Jordi Alba to meet Soler´s run to the right post with a lobbed pass for him to stab home.
Sweden hit right back seconds later when a long ball forward was mishandled by Soler and Sergio Busquets. Isak, who plays for Spanish club Real Sociedad, ran onto the ball and slotted a right-footed shot into the corner of Unai Simon´s net.
Without Pedri to control the ball, Spain had trouble with Sweden´s pressure. Simon got his foot on a low strike by Dejan Kulusevski in the 36th after Koke Resurreccion lost possession near the area.
A great move by Kulusevski led to Sweden´s winning goal. The Juventus winger appeared to be hemmed in by two defenders on the left touchline, when he spun past both and found Claesson unmarked in the box.
Spain coach Luis Enrique sent on Adama Traore, Marcos Llorente and Pablo Sarabia to spark his attack. Traore went close to equalizing when he dribbled into the area and forced goalkeeper Robin Olsen to make a save.
But Isak twice broke free on the counterattack and only last-gasp tackles by Eric Garcia and Aymeric Laporte stopped him from having great chances to finish Spain off.
Elsewhere, Italy was held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Bulgaria in their Group C World Cup qualifier
In their first match since winning the European Championship in July, Federico Chiesa wasted no time in putting Italy ahead, arrowing home a fine finish with 16 minutes on the clock.
However, Atanas Iliev struck an equaliser against the run of play five minutes before the break, the first goal Italy have conceded in their World Cup qualifying campaign to date.
It was one-way traffic in the second half as the home side went in search of a winner but, apart from Ciro Immobile’s effort from a tight angle that was cleared off the line; Roberto Mancini’s side did not look like scoring again.
Despite the draw, Italy remain in a strong position to reach next year’s World Cup in Qatar, sitting top of the group on 10 points from four matches, four points clear of Switzerland in second albeit having played two games more.
“We had opportunities to win, we were too hasty and a bit wasteful in possession,” Italy captain Leonardo Bonucci told Rai Sport. “We wanted to celebrate the new start with a victory in front of our fans.”
Fifty-three days after their Euro 2020 triumph over England, Italy started with nine of the players who took to the field on that famous night at Wembley and showed no sign of letting up against Bulgaria as Chiesa stroked them in front early on.
The livewire forward played a neat one-two with Immobile before finding the bottom corner, and Italy stayed in the ascendancy following their breakthrough.
The Azzurri looked on course to equal the record set by Spain from 2007-09 in style, with only Brazil between 1993-96 having a longer unbeaten run, of 36 games, but Iliev silenced the crowd with Bulgaria’s only real attack of the half.
A second-half onslaught was expected from the European champions but it never came. They did have 27 shots in total, but could not create that killer chance as the visitors dug in for a well-earned point.
Italy next face Switzerland on Sunday in Basel, while Bulgaria host Lithuania.
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