Sweden and Russia share the spoils

By Joe Sharratt | 09 Oct 2014 20:40, Last updated: 04 Jun 2025 23:10

Alexander Kokorin's first-half strike was cancelled out by Ola Toivonen's second-half equaliser as Sweden and Russia had to settle for a point apiece in their Euro 2016 Group G qualifier this evening.

The Dynamo Moscow striker gave Fabio Capello's side the lead on 10 minutes when he collected the ball wide on the right some 40 yards from goal and cut inside, running at the Swedish defence before side-footing home into the bottom right corner of Andreas Isaksson's goal.

Sweden, who were without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, could have been level two minutes later after Igor Smolinkov brought down Jimmy Durmaz in the Russian box to give the hosts a penalty, but Sebastian Larsson saw his spot kick acrobatically saved by Igor Akinfeev.

Toivonen levelled the tie with a close-range finish from Martin Olsson's cross just after the restart, before the striker was forced off with an injury.

His replacement, Johan Elmander, nearly grabbed a late winner for Sweden, but his well-struck effort flew just wide of the Russia goal.