Sweden 1 Russia 0, August 19th 1998

Sweden scored early and managed to restrict Russian chances in Orebro last night to earn their third win in a row.

The Russian defence was caught out by a fluffed shot from Per Zetterberg in the third minute of the game following Sweden's first corner of the game. The static defence saw the ball reach Jorgen Petterson close to goal and he slid the ball into the net for what proved to be the winner.

The game drifted after this in the first half as the Russian side, forced to press forward, were unable to create any clear chances and mistakes in possession allowed the home side to relax and frustrate the visitors who had recalled many familiar players after a year of internal wrangling. Back came Dobrovolsky, Alenichev and Shalimov in midfield while wayward striker Sergei Yuran again led the attack but played either too deep or too wide to influence tha match. Dmitry Kharn played the second half in goal after Alexander Filimonov had conceded the goal in the first session in front of a small crowd of 8,000 in the northern town.

Both sides were able to restrict the movement of the other in a game where defence was emphasised and the revisionist Russian were never able to mount a serious challenge to the Swedish defence.

The best attacker on show was Zetterberg and he forced a neat reflex save low to Kharin's left and hit the bar in the closing minutes with a powerful drive after a cut inside on the run.

Alexander Mostovoi hit the best Russian effort of the night when his drive smacked against the post from the edge of the area. The Russian side are away again at the end of next week in Kiev where they face Ukraine in their first European Championship qualifier while Sweden entertain England with high hopes after their recent impressive record. With home advantage they will test English nerve as the visitors are notoriously poor in September performances.