Artem Dovbyk netted a dramatic winner in stoppage time at the end of extra time as Ukraine squeezed past 10-man Sweden 2-1 at Hampden Park on Tuesday to book a Euro 2020 quarterfinal clash with England.
* Get DStv to watch all the action live.
The final whistle was met with wild scenes of celebration as Ukraine reached the last eight of a major tournament for only the second time, after they made the quarters at the 2006 World Cup.
The two sides were level at 1-1 after 90 minutes following goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Sweden's in-form Emil Forsberg but the tide changed when Sweden defender Marcus Danielson was sent off nine minutes into extra time.
Sweden looked resigned to taking the game to penalties, but Dovbyk had other ideas, meeting Zinchenko's cross in the 121st minute to settle the contest and send Ukraine into uncharted European Championship territory.
A small contingent of Ukraine supporters were at Hampden to witness their side's first-ever appearance in a European Championship knockout round, and they nearly got off to a dream start as Roman Yaremchuk was denied by a smart Robin Olsen save.
Sweden were causing problems in an entertaining opening too, but it was Ukraine who edged in front, with Manchester City's Zinchenko hammering home after 27 minutes having been picked out by a sumptuous Andriy Yarmolenko pass with the outside of his boot
Having fallen behind in the tournament for the first time, Sweden looked short of ideas and needed a slice of luck to get themselves back into the game, with Forsberg’s speculative strike taking a huge deflection before finding the net just before halftime.
Forsberg, who has four goals in the tournament so far, one behind leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, then followed Ukraine's Serhiy Sydorchuk in hitting the woodwork after the break, not once but twice.
With neither side able to find a winner, extra time followed and Sweden’s task was made all the more difficult as Danielson was sent off for a high and dangerous tackle on Artem Besedin, following a VAR review.
Both teams tired and another last-16 penalty shootout seemed inevitable, following the drama of world champions France's exit on Monday, but Ukraine had one final attack in them, with Dovbyk stealing the headlines.
That winning moment ?? ????#EURO2020 | #SWE | #UKR pic.twitter.com/IqTQC9JpIU
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) June 29, 2021
MATCH FACTS
- Ukraine have reached the quarterfinals of a major tournament for only the second time, the previous instance being the 2006 World Cup (eliminated by Italy).
- Sweden have been eliminated from all three of their knockout stage matches at the EUROs (also vs Germany in 1992 and Netherlands in 2004).
- Timed at 120:37, Ukraine’s Artem Dovbyk scored the second-latest goal in European Championship history, behind Semih Sentürk v Croatia in 2008 (121:01), and the latest match-winning strike in the competition, overtaking Michel Platini v Portugal in 1984 (118:53).
- Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zinchenko became the fifth different Manchester City player to score at EURO 2020 after Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Ferran Torres – only Atalanta (also five) have had as many different players score at the tournament.
- Andriy Yarmolenko has either scored (two) or assisted (three) five of Ukraine's eight European Championship goals. Indeed, five goal involvements is level with Andriy Shevchenko (4 goals, 1 assist) for the most by a Ukraine player at major tournaments (World Cup & EUROs).
- Emil Forsberg has scored four goals at EURO 2020; the only player to score more at a single edition of a major tournament (World Cup & EUROs) for Sweden is Kennet Andersson at the World Cup in 1994 (5).
- Sweden’s Marcus Danielson became the fourth player to receive a red card in extra-time of a European Championship match, and first since Nuno Gomes for Portugal against France in 2000.
- Sweden v Ukraine was the fourth EURO 2020 last 16 tie to go to extra-time (also Italy v Austria, Croatia v Spain & France v Switzerland), the most ever in a single knockout round in the competition, overtaking the three that went the distance in the 2008 quarterfinals.
Â