Spain’s Fernando Torres (right) in an aerial tussle with Sweden’s Petter Hansson during their group D match in Innsbruck on Saturday. (Reuters)

Innsbruck: David Villa capitalised on a defensive mix up to score in injury time Saturday, giving Spain a 2-1 win over Sweden that moved them to the verge of a place in the quarter finals of the European Championship.

The match had looked set to end in a draw after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had equalised following Fernando Torres’ 15th-minute goal, but a long ball out of defence in the second minute of added time deceived defender Petter Hansson and dropped kindly for Villa.

The Valencia striker slipped the ball to the left of goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson for his fourth goal of the tournament.

The result left Spain with six points in group D, three more than Sweden.

Torres had put Spain in front when he lunged at a pass by David Silva with his right foot outstretched to intercept and touch it past Isaksson.

Sweden veteran Henrik Larsson had shot over the bar and Johan Elmander, who scored against Spain in a qualifying match for Euro 2008, missed two chances before Fredrik Stoor curled a pass from the right to Ibrahimovic in the area in the 34th minute. The striker turned away from marker Sergio Ramos and hit a low shot that just made it under goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Sweden followed their game plan of staying patient and hitting on the counterattack after Spain had controlled early, with Torres troubling the Swedish area with a mix of darting runs and deft dribbling.

Torres, who was rumoured to have been unhappy with his early substitution in Spain’s 4-1 opening win over Russia, soon put his team in front. Silva chipped a diagonal pass into the area toward Joan Capdevila, but Torres stuck out his right foot to intercept and touch it in for his first goal of the tournament and 16th overall in 51 appearances for Spain.

His first international goal since September was just his third since the 2006 World Cup.

Spain replaced center back Carles Puyol with Raul Albiol in the 24th, apparently because of injury, but still looked comfortable in the face of erratic and disjointed play by Sweden.

Larsson and Johan Elmander had their chances before Stoor found Ibrahimovic at the far post.

Ibrahimovic initially tried to volley Stoor’s cross from the right and regained control before shrugging Ramos to the ground. The Inter Milan striker swerved to score with a low right-footed shot that Casillas got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.

It was the second straight match in which Ibrahimovic had scored, after he snapped a near three-year scoring drought in a 2-0 victory against Greece.

Villa was in the team despite sustaining a hairline fracture of his right index finger while celebrating the first of his hattrick goals against Russia, and the Sweden defence kept him under wraps until the 38th, when Isaksson had to stop a low shot.

Elmander, who started in place of the injured Christian Wilhelmsson, was troubling Spain down the flank but was lucky not to concede a penalty for a nudge on Silva just before halftime.

Markus Rosenberg came on for Ibrahimovic to start the second half, with Sweden not wanting to risk its star player’s swollen left knee.

There were few clear chances in the second half, and those that came went to Spain. Sweden’s attack sorely lacked the physical presence of Ibrahimovic, and Larsson just failed to meet Hansson’s cross at the far post in the 79th for his team’s best opportunity.

At the other end, Villa jumped on Silva’s rebound in the 63rd and fired straight into Isaksson from close range. Villa then recovered the loose ball and centered to find Torres, whose shot was blocked.

Isaksson, who took a blow to the face from Villa’s knee, then caught Torres’ weak header from the ensuing corner.

The teams seemed content with a draw that would have helped both, but Sweden was caught out when Capdevila sent a 40m pass over the head of Torres and into the path of Sweden defender Hansson. Hansson lost the ball under pressure from Villa, who calmly scored with an angled shot from just inside the area.

Teams

Sweden: Andreas Isaksson, Fredrik Stoor, Olof Mellberg, Petter Hansson, Mikael Nilsson, Johan Elmander (Sebastian Larsson, 79), Anders Svensson, Daniel Andersson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson (Kim Kallstrom, 86), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Markus Rosenberg, 46).

Spain: Iker Casillas, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol (Raul Alboil, 24), Joan Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Marcos Senna, Xavi Hernandez (Cesc Fabregas, 58), Andres Iniesta (Santi Cazorla, 59), David Silva, David Villa, Fernando Torres.