Éder found a late winner to extend the Italians’ lead in Group E.
A dour match ensued between Italy and Sweden at the Stadium Municipal on Friday, with Inter Milan striker Éder netting an 88th minute winner as the match ended 1-0.
Very few chances were created throughout the 90 minutes, with Azzurri midfielder Marco Parolo hitting the crossbar late on with a header.
A 0-0 stalemate seemed inevitable, until Éder found space at the edge of the box and curled his effort past the helpless Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.
The result sees Antonio Conte’s side qualify for the round of 16, sitting on six points with a game remaining. The Scandinavian outfit, who sit on just one point, will need a result in the group’s next matchday against Belgium in order to advance.
Italy continue to underwhelm against weaker opposition
Despite going on to win the match and qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament, the Azzurri were arguably second best for much of the game and very disappointing.
The Italians did look like scoring at all during the match until there was 10 minutes remaining when 31-year-old Emanuele Giaccherini delivered a perfectly weighted ball into the box and onto Parolo’s head.
Eventually Conte’s charges did find a winner through Éder, though were fortunate the Blågult defence switched off for a moment and allowed the Brazilian-born striker to find space as well as the bottom corner of Isaksson’s goal.
Following a terrific display against group favourites Belgium, Italy underwhelmed against weaker opposition in a major international tournament once again, and will need significant improvement in order to advance deep into the tournament.
Sweden attack toothless, Ibrahimovic lacks support
Erik Hamrén’s side, once again, failed to produce even just a single shot on target in a Euro 2016 match, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic rarely getting on the ball and Sweden being unable to create chances for their star striker.
The Scandinavian outfit enjoyed most of the possession for the opening hour of the match, yet did very little with it and were made to rue the lack of opportunities they forged as the Azzurri managed to find a winner and steal the point the Swedes believed they had gained.
Although Sweden came up against what is arguably the tournament’s best defence, they were rarely able to threaten and find Ibrahimovic, their main source for attacking chances and goalscoring outlet. Significant improvement in the final third of the pitch is required against Marc Wilmot’s side for the Swedes to be able to advance past this group.
Italy take their place in the #EURO2016 round of 16. Bravo 👏 pic.twitter.com/ulXx1TwsZM
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) June 17, 2016
Giaccherini may be crucial to Italy’s hopes
The scorer of the Italians’ opening goal for the tournament was one of the few players in this match who did not underwhelm.
The on-loan Bologna winger was at the heart of any rare Italian forays forward and was his usual innovative and skilful self all throughout.
His cross that found Parolo was just a sample of the contributions the former Juventus man can provide the Azzurri throughout the tournament, and being the most dynamic and forward thinking player in Italy’s midfield, a lot of the attacking onus may fall onto Giaccherini during future fixtures in the tournament.
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