Striving to reach the promised land of a World Cup semi-final place, Sweden could simply not cross the Jordan.<\/p>\n
Jordan Pickford, that is.<\/p>
Any chance they might have had was thwarted by England\u2019s goalkeeper \u2013 at this stage arguably the tournament\u2019s finest shot stopper.<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s opportunities were few and far between as the Three Lions dominated the clash, putting the result emphatically beyond the blue and yellows through headed goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli.<\/p>
More was perhaps expected from the Swedes. After all, they had kept both Holland and Italy from reaching the finals stages of the competition.<\/p>\n
The game was oh so slow for the first half hour.<\/p>\n
The Swedes were taking no chances and while England bossed the ball their governance of it was too conservative and not enough labour.<\/p>\n
At times it looked like a training outing. Nothing ventured, and certainly nothing gained.<\/p>\n
There was just one shot at each end and no prospect of a goal until an Ashley Young corner in the 30th<\/sup> minute was met with a thunderous header by Maguire that gave Robin Olsen in the Swedish goal no chance (1-0).<\/p>\n One hoped this would make the Swedes come out of their shell but normal play, ie nothing too adventurous, was resumed.<\/p>\n In fact, it was England who had the better of the rest of the half, with Raheem Sterling twice fed long passes into the box, neither of which he could convert.<\/p>\n Sweden had to fend off three corners before the break, which they did at a sweat.<\/p>\n They did make more of an effort from the restart and a fierce Marcus Berg header was superbly saved by Pickford\u2019s strong left hand.<\/p>\n England were racking up the chances, with Kieran Trippier doing great stuff on the right side, his crosses causing chaos in the Swedish box.<\/p>\n But it was another Tottenham man who would ensure victory as Dele Alli met the delightful chip of Jesse Lingard to head home from the far post.<\/p>\n Sweden did get a few openings after that \u2013 some quite decent, in fact \u2013 but nothing that could beat the invincible Pickford.<\/p>\n After a history of repeated failures, English fans are pinching themselves.<\/p>\n Can they really go all the way?<\/p>\n