VAR came to the rescue of Sweden as they netted a second-half penalty to beat South Korea 1-0 in Monday afternoon’s Group F clash at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
Andreas Granqvist’s 65th minute pen proved the difference in the end as the Blue-Yellow picked up their first opening-game win at a World Cup finals since 1958.
The big moment in the match arrived little over an hour in as the use of video technology saw referee Joel Aguilar pull play back and award Janne Andersson’s charges a spot kick, which Granqvist converted to send his side joint-top of the standings.
Korea initially looked as though they would offer more in an attacking sense early in the second half, with Kim Shin-wook guiding a left-sided cross into the side-netting of Robin Olsen’s goal.
Emil Forsberg and Ola Toivonen squandered good opportunities either side of that Kim opening, though, curling an 18-yard shot over the bar and directing a header right at Cho respectively.
Sweden’s breakthrough goal eventually arrived 25 minutes from time thanks to the use of VAR, which saw referee Aguilar correctly rectify his initial call when substitute Kim Min-woo lunged in on Claesson inside the box.
Centre-back Granqvist nominated himself to take the penalty kick and rolled it to Cho’s left, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way in the process.
Korea, competing at the World Cup for a ninth successive time, lacked an attacking threat all afternoon and barely offered anything in response.
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