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Andreas Granqvist took advantage of a VAR-awarded penalty to hand Sweden a 1-0 win over South Korea in their World Cup opener.<\/p>\nAndreas Granqvist took advantage of a VAR-awarded penalty to hand Sweden a 1-0 win over South Korea in their World Cup opener.<\/p>\n
The Sweden captain tucked home in the 65th minute of the Group F clash in Nizhny Novgorod after technology was used to rule that Viktor Claesson had been fouled in the area.<\/p>\n
It was a deserved victory for Sweden, who created the better chances throughout and Marcus Berg spurned a couple of good openings.<\/p>\n
The Swedes had been accused of spying on a Korea training session in the build-up to the game but they began with an apparent determination to put their own shortcomings in front of goal right.<\/p>\n
Sweden had not scored in three outings prior to the tournament but they showed the greater attacking intent in the first half.<\/p>\n
Granqvist, without defensive colleague Victor Lindelof of Manchester United due to illness, had an early opportunity after breaking from deep. He combined well with Berg, who returned his pass with a neat backheel, but Kim Young-gwon produced a fine tackle to frustrate him.<\/p>\n
Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo then justified his unexpected selection, having been regarded as coach Shin Tae-yong\u2019s third choice, by producing a fine point-black save to deny Berg. Ola Toivonen headed wide from the resulting corner.<\/p>\n
Korea suffered a blow when left-back Park Joo-ho was forced off midway through the first half with a hamstring injury and Sweden threatened again moments later through Berg, but again Young-gwon got in the way.<\/p>\n
Tottenham\u2019s Son Heung-min created a rare Korea opportunity as he broke away from Granqvist but he was unable to pick out a colleague in the box.<\/p>\n
Berg had another chance before the break as he controlled a long ball on his chest and took it away from the keeper but he could only lob across goal.<\/p>\n
Mikael Lustig picked out Claesson with an inviting cross on the stroke of half-time but his header was deflected wide.<\/p>\n
Korea began the second half more positively with Koo Ja-cheol heading narrowly wide but Sweden soon regained control and Jo again did well to keep out a header from Toivonen.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough came after 65 minutes as Sweden were awarded a penalty after video review. Referee Joel Aguilar initially allowed play to go on after Claesson was hacked down by Lee Jae-sung but called a halt moments later, as Korea launched a counter-attack, after a word in his ear.<\/p>\n
Granqvist took responsibility and sent Jo the wrong way.<\/p>\n
That proved the telling blow and Sweden were largely untroubled as they saw out victory.<\/p>\n
Korea might have snatched an equalizer in stoppage time but Hwang Hee-chan was unable to keep his header on target.<\/p>\n