Sweden have clinched a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their Euro 2016 playoff against Denmark thanks to goals from Emil Forsberg and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but a late away goal for Morten Olsen's men has left the tie in the balance.

The home side almost took the lead through Marcus Berg when he collected a low cross from Jimmy Durmaz, but his close-range effort was saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

Berg went close again for Sweden when he pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area, only to clip his right-footed strike wide of the target.

Ibrahimovic unlocked the Denmark defence with an incisive pass into the feet of Berg, but once again the forward could not find the finish as he put his strike wide of the post.

The visitors almost made Sweden rue their missed chances as Christian Eriksen sent a pinpoint pass into the box for Nicklas Bentdner, but he failed to hit the back of the net.

Sweden took the lead right on the stroke of half time when Forsberg collected the ball from the on-rushing Mikael Lustig down the right flank before he buried an effort into the bottom corner.

In the second half, matters got worse for the visitors when Thomas Kahlenberg brought down Forsberg in the box and a penalty was awarded. Ibrahimovic took the spot kick and fired his effort past Schmeichel.

Ibrahimovic thought he had notched his second goal of the match when he collected a through ball and sent his low strike into the net, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

Sweden looked for a killer third goal when Martin Olsson raided down the left flank and he sent a low ball across the face of the net, but there was no yellow shirt on hand to turn the ball home.

The visitors dampened the mood inside the Friends Arena as they scored a crucial away goal when Nicolai Jorgensen reacted at the back post to flick-on from Yussuf Poulsen to divert the ball into the net.

Denmark looked the more likely to find the net again in the closing minutes, but the match was to end 2-1 in Sweden's favour, leaving the contest evenly poised heading into the second leg on Tuesday in Copenhagen.