Euro 2012: England see off Swedes in epic thriller

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THAT'S NOT SWEDEN ON THE RIGHT

There was no sign of the drama to come during a drab first half.

Scott Parker brought a decent save out of Andreas Isaksson after Welbeck rolled an inviting lay-off into his path.

Welbeck guided a header wide from James Milner's cross too.

Sweden had a few half-chances and Sebastian Larsson brought a decent save out of Joe Hart.

However, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic enduring one of those evenings when English fans wonder what the fuss is all about, Sweden seemed to be there for the taking.

The opportunity England craved was a while in coming and, as so often, Steven Gerrard provided it.

Carroll got between defenders and rose majestically to power his header into the bottom corner.

Much as he may bristle at what is perceived to be the criticism of straight-forward tactics, if England are good at it, Hodgson should make no apology for playing to such strengths.

In lifting the ball back into the box after his initial free-kick had been blocked, Ibrahimovic could not have expected to pick out Mellberg, completely unmarked, eight yards out.

Hart made a terrific one-handed save, only for the ball to bounce straight into Johnson, whose desperate attempt to keep it out of the net met with failure.

Worse was to come.

Having proved how adept they at scoring from deep crosses, England showed a shuddering ineptitude at defending them as Larsson drove a touchline free-kick deep into the box.

Despite so many bodies around him, Mellberg was completely on his own and gave Hart no chance from point blank range.

Hodgson took immediate action, replacing Milner with Walcott. Once again his decision was a master-stroke.

Three minutes later, Walcott, hanging back at a Gerrard corner, collected the loose ball from a Sweden clearance, and with defenders and attackers merging in a frenzy of movement to retake their positions, fired through the lot.

Isaksson, unsighted, was totally deceived and could only watch helplessly as the shot flew past him, only a few inches away but completely out of reach.

It was Walcott's first goal since that hat-trick in Croatia almost four years ago - and probably his best international performance too.

Walcott can be infuriating at times. Not on Friday evening though.

And when the Arsenal man drove toward the by-line, he pulled a cross back to the near post, where Welbeck, instinctively, back-heeled it in.

The result leaves Hodgson wondering how to restore star man Wayne Rooney to his starting line-up given Carroll and Welbeck were so impressive.

That is a problem for another day. Roy Hodgson's men only require a draw in their final outing with co-hosts Ukraine on Tuesday to claim a last-eight berth.