Filippa Angeldahl fired Sweden to a winning start at the Women’s European Championships against Denmark.

Sweden had beaten Denmark 6-1 and 2-0 only last month in the Nations League, but were met with a tougher test in their Group C opener.

Angeldahl had twice gone close before breaking the deadlock shortly after half-time, finding the bottom left corner with a clinical shot from inside the box.

Sweden, who reached the semi-finals at Euro 2022, deservedly began their campaign with a victory although were fortunate that Pernille Harder’s late strike came back off the crossbar.

How Sweden started with victory

Sweden survived a long VAR check for a penalty early on with the referee deeming Madelen Janogy had been tripped before her right arm connected with the ball.

It came after Sweden went close in just the second minute with Angeldahl’s shot deflecting wide following good work from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd to set her up.

Chelsea’s Rytting Kaneryd was causing problems on the right and another driving run led to her pulling the ball back for Stina Blackstenius, whose close-range shot was brilliantly blocked by Katrine Veje.

Sweden had the better of the first half and were denied the opener just before the break by a superb save from Maja Bay Ostergaard when she tipped over Angeldahl’s free-kick.

Angeldahl wasn’t to be denied early in the second half as she exchanged passes with Kosovare Asllani before firing into the bottom corner.

Sweden were denied a second minutes later when the ball fell kindly for Stina Blackstenius at a corner to tap into an empty net but Frederikke Thogersen got back onto the line to clear.

Madelen Janogy then headed wide from a deep cross before Rebecka Blomqvist had her close-range effort blocked.

Sweden were almost made to pay for their missed chances late on when Bayern Munich forward Harder hammered a left-footed shot against the woodwork from the edge of the box.