World Cup 2018: 3 reasons why Sweden lost 0-2 to England

England will appear in their first World Cup semi-final since 1990 as they easily saw off Sweden at Samara.

The game was low on tempo but evenly contested until the 30th minute, when defender Harry Maguire headed Gareth Southgate’s side into the lead from an Ashley Young corner. Their advantage was doubled on the hour mark when Dele Alli beat a poorly set-up Swedish offside trap to get his head onto a cross.

Sweden toiled hard to stage a fightback but were denied both by some disciplined defending and a handful of excellent saves by young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

The Scandinavian side returns home, while England await the outcome of the other quarter-final between hosts Russia and Croatia to contest the semi-final in Moscow on Wednesday.

Here's a brief analysis of where Sweden fell short in their defeat.

---

#1 Flawed defensive tactics – both in set-pieces and the offside trap

Was Forsberg (Short Number 10) the right candidate to mark Maguire?

The Swedes were well organized until the half hour mark when they conceded the first corner of the game. A team that had conceded in only one of their four games prior to this in the tournament would have been expected to clear the danger. However, it was Harry Maguire who won the first ball, outjumping his marker to power a header into the corner, giving goalkeeper Olsen no chance.

Questions will surely be asked of their man-marking distribution, as it was winger Emil Forsberg rather than one of the more aerially capable centre-halves or defensive midfielder Seb Larsson tracking the tall, aggressive Maguire.

Alli’s goal on the hour was another result of Sweden’s defensive lapse, getting their timing of the offside trap all wrong as the 22-year old advanced beyond them to head in from the far post.

The goals meant that Sweden had to open up and commit more men forward, leaving gaps at the back and offering more opportunities to Gareth Southgate’s side, a handful of which were fluffed by the wasteful Raheem Sterling. All their good work to keep a young, vibrant English side at bay until then had come to nothing.

#2 No service to the strikers in the first half

Ola Toivonen cut a frustrated figure

The Scandinavian side hardly had a sniff at goal in the first half. Though England’s solid defence must be credited for it, much of the responsibility must be held by the Swedish full-backs Augustinsson and Krafth, whose crosses into the area were average, at best. There was no whip or zip in their deliveries, just hopeful projectiles which the English centre-back trio were only too happy to deal with.

As a result, forwards Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen didn’t have much to attack in the opposition box. Even through the middle, there was always the assurance of Jordan Henderson sitting in front of the defence as part of a 3-5-2 system to cut out any promising attacks.

It needed the concession of the Harry Maguire goal to induce some urgency into the Swedish side whose build-up play had been slow, without purpose and devoid of any creativity until that point. Their progress was further impeded by some disciplined English defending which the Scandinavians struggled to break down. It was a half of near-isolation for Berg and Toivonen, resulting in the latter being withdrawn for Guidetti midway through the second half.

#3 Failure to get past a sharp Pickford

Sweden could not find a way past Pickford

Sweden did up their intensity by a notch after the re-start and began churning out potential goal-scoring chances. But where the English defence appeared to be beaten, there was the big, daunting figure of young Jordan Pickford who would stand up to bail out his defence. The 24-year-old has made a name for himself in the World Cup finals, impressing with his reflexive shot-stopping and a wide distribution range.

First he got down low to brilliantly deny Marcus Berg with a one-handed save, before sprawling himself out to get his body behind winger Viktor Claesson’s shot after Sweden launched a quick attack. The pick of the lot was a tipping save over the bar from Berg’s powerful shot from the edge of the box.

Sweden hadn’t tested Pickford enough for their liking, but when they did, they could not find a way past him. Pickford was sharp, got his positioning right and gave away no loose balls for the opposition to exploit. Whether it was a lack of Swedish efficiency or a display of top-class goalkeeping is for the onlookers to debate.

---

What was your favourite moment from this match? Tell us in the comments below!