Claesson's late winner earns first place for Sweden and dumps Poland

Robert Lewandowski scored two goals to cancel out Emil Forsberg's brace before Viktor Claesson scored in injury time to secure first place for Sweden

Robert Lewandowski was in fine form but his two goals was not enough to earn them the important win they need to reach Euro 2020 last 16.

In a five-goal thriller in Saint Petersburg, Viktor Claesson's injury-time goal secured Sweden top spot in Group E and dashed Poland's hopes of reaching the last 16.

Even though Sweden's spot in the knockout rounds was already secured, they started with high intensity and were up 1-0 little over a minute in.

Emil Forsberg – who scored the penalty winner on Matchday 2 – scored from the edge of the box following superb work from Alexander Isak.

When Robert Lewandowski headed a corner against the crossbar and then repeated the act from close range after latching onto the rebound, Poland responded effectively but yet failed to draw level. 

Just before the interval, Robin Olsen stretched to tip over a blistering Piotr Zieliński effort, and he had to be equally alert shortly after the restart to palm away another long-range effort from the same player.

The Sweden goalkeeper next saved a low Grzegorz Krychowiak effort, and his team took advantage of both saves just before the hour mark, with replacement Dejan Kulusevski carrying the ball from halfway and squaring for Forsberg to send a low drive just inside the post. 

A magnificent Lewandowski goal soon cut Poland's deficit in half and motivated his team to push forward more men, and six minutes later, the ball went to the striker inside the area to tie the game.

That wasn't enough for Poland, who needed one more goal to advance and were increasingly forced to commit men to attacking positions. 

Instead, Sweden snatched victory, with substitute Claesson's brilliant finish in the 94th minute giving them first place in the section.

Man of the Match: Emil Forsberg (Sweden)

🇸🇪 Two-goal Sweden hero Emil Forsberg = Star of the match 🥇

🤔 Did you predict that?@Heineken | #EUROSOTM | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/WhW1Wa2TUI

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 23, 2021

What the players and managers said

Emil Forsberg, Sweden forward: "It was a crazy start. It meant that they were more a little more desperate than us. They created chances, could have scored, and we had a bit of luck. At 2-0, the game should be over, but they equalised, and their goals came a little too easily. But then we got the third, and now it's just pure happiness."

Janne Andersson, Sweden coach: "[Forsberg]'s a bit calmer as a person. He's said himself that he feels more harmonious, and he's been better on the pitch. He's always been good with the national team, and it's great he can be the decisive factor for us. Overall we defended well, although in the second half we defended a little too deep. We'll have to look at the game again, analyse it, and see what we can do better."

Robert Lewandowski, Poland forward: "We're sad and disappointed. Maybe we were lacking quality somehow, but we gave all we had. We've been unlucky at this tournament. We had many chances to score but didn't convert enough of them. And our rivals sometimes had half a chance and they scored. I feel this team deserved more; for all that we gave here, the reward is too small."

Sweden 3-2 Poland: Watch the full match highlights