SAN FRANCISCO, October 14, (THEWILL) – Diogo Jota produced a Man-of-the-Match performance in the absence of Portugal’s record striker Cristiano Ronaldo to give the Portuguese a 3-0 win over Sweden. The Liverpool man scored two and assisted another ensuring that Portugal remained top of the Nations League Group A3 standings.
In the reverse fixture last month, Ronaldo scored both goals as Portugal won 2-0. However, he was ruled out of this match after testing positive for coronavirus on Tuesday.
Jota, brought back into the line-up for Wednesday’s clash in Lisbon, justified his inclusion by playing in Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva for the opener. Then, he scored his first and Portugal’s second before the break when he beat Robin Olsen, in goal for Sweden, from close range.
The Liverpool forward rounded off the scoring 18 minutes from time after a brilliant run down the left as the Nations League holders returned to winning ways after successive stalemates with Spain and France over the past week.
THEWILL believes the Portuguese team displayed some creativity in the middle of the park and took their chances well, scoring three goals out of the five big chances they created in the match. It appears they did not miss the talismanic Ronaldo too much.
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They remain top of Group A3 on goal difference after France beat Croatia 2-1 in the other group tie. Their next Nations League match is against the World champions, but first, they face Andorra in a friendly at the start of the next international break. Sweden are still bottom and without a single point in the competition. Next up for them is a friendly against Denmark next month.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
