Austria seal Euro 2016 qualification with Sweden win

Austria have qualified for the European Championships for the first time after beating Sweden in Stockholm.

Goals from David Alaba, Marc Janko and a brace from Martin Harnik proved decisive for Das Team, who now cannot be caught at the top of Group G.

© Getty Images

The visitors were awarded a penalty inside the opening 10 minutes when Kim Kallstrom tripped the advancing Zlatko Junuzovic in the area.

Alaba duly put Austria ahead as he deftly chipped the ball over a helpless Andreas Isaksson in the Swedish goal.

The Blue-Yellow could have been level but for Austrian keeper Robert Almer, who produced a diving stop to keep out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal-bound free kick.

Sweden twice went close to netting an equaliser midway through the half, with Emil Forsberg firing over the bar with a shot on the turn before Ibrahimovic drilled another free kick inches wide of the right-hand post.

Erik Hamren's men were punished for their missed chances after Janko's flick-on drifted across the penalty area before Martin Harnik headed the ball into the net from a tight angle.

Alaba nearly added a third within moments of the restart when Marko Arnautovic's cross found the Bayern star, but his strike was saved by Isaksson.

Sweden looked to apply pressure to the Austria defence and were denied a route back into the game on 66 minutes when Marcus Berg's volley from point-blank range was kept out by Almer.

Instead, Austria made sure of victory with 13 minutes remaining as Janko turned onto Alaba's pass before finding the corner of the net.

Harnik then rubbed salt into the wounds as he scored a fourth with two minutes remaining.

Ibrahimovic scored for the hosts in stoppage time, but it proved to be mere consolation as Sweden slip to third, with Russia leapfrogging them into second, while Montenegro are now within touching distance of the playoffs.