Brilliant Berg destroys Belarus

Marcus Berg fired a hat-trick as Under-21 hosts Sweden enjoyed a crushing 5-1 victory over Belarus.

Striker hits hat-trick as hosts enjoy easy opening win

Marcus Berg fired a hat-trick as hosts Sweden enjoyed the perfect start to their European Under-21 Championship campaign with a crushing 5-1 victory over Belarus. The opening match in Group A briefly threatened an upset when Belarus took a 32nd minute lead, but the Swedes quickly recovered to lead 3-1 at the break courtesy of goals from Rasmus Elm and a Berg brace. Berg completed his hat-trick nine minutes from time before Gustav Svensson smacked home a stunning 30-yard shot in the 89th minute. Sweden should have taken the lead on 29 minutes with the first real chance of the game, but Emir Bajrami poked his shot wide after being set up by Berg. Just three minutes later Belarus went ahead in brilliant fashion as Sergei Kislyak's 30-yard effort rocketed into the top corner. Ola Toivonen then steered his shot over from close range after more good work from Berg before the equaliser came on 35 minutes when Elm's long-range effort took a wicked deflection off Aleksandr Martynovich to leave Belarus keeper Pavel Chesnovski with no chance. The hosts were soon in front as Berg exchanged passes with Bajrami on the edge of the box before skipping past defenders and slipping his shot past Chesnovski. And Berg was on target again before half-time as he rifled a crisp first-time volley beyond Chesnovski after being picked out by Toivonen. Just before the half-hour mark, Toivonen had a goal harshly ruled out for offside after appearing to be set up by Belarus defender Martynovich, while Rasmus Bengtsson's header brushed the crossbar. Elm was just off target midway through the second half before his ball over the top sent Berg clear on 81 minutes and Chesnovski was unable to prevent the striker's lobbed effort from reaching the back of the net. Berg almost scored his fourth goal only for his back-post header to be pushed out by Chesnovski and it was left to Svensson to smash home a screamer a minute from time.