Lisbon
Portugal had some luck, but Diogo Jota's effeciency in front of goal made the difference. The Liverpool man scored two and made another in a game where the result was a lot better than the performance for Portugal.
Talking about the game, Jota who scored a brace said, "It was an excellent night, one of the best performances (of my career). Representing my country for the second time and having this performance, together with my colleagues is great. We achieved a great result against Sweden, a team that is not easy to beat 3-0, and it is a result that we can be proud of."
The game got off to a breathless start and Diogo Jota fired wide inside two minutes before William Carvalho headed against the post.
But it wasn't all one-way traffic as Mikael Lustig fired a glorious chance over the top. And he was made to rue that miss when Diogo Jota unselfishly set up Bernardo Silva to open the scoring.
Marcus Berg hit the post at the other end, but the hosts doubled their lead when João Cancelo found Diogo Jota for the second. Rui Patrício denied both Berg and Viktor Claessen after the break but Diogo Jota added a marvellous third, running into the area at pace before dispatching the ball past Robin Olsen.
Alexander Isak was also denied by Rui Patrício but in the end it looks more comfortable for Portugal than it was. They remain joint top with France.
Sweden gave Portugal an early scare and then went close through both Lustig and Berg in the first half, so they did not lack an attacking edge. The problem was that Portugal were so much sharper, cutting through the Swedish defence when and where it hurt the most. Conceding a third goal in the second half, Swedish spirits were deflated even more and the final 20 minutes had the look of a friendly. A learning experience for a Swedish team in development.
"We got off on the wrong foot from the beginning, with them taking the lead. They got to control the match, which they’re really good at. Coming back from a 2-0 deficit in Portugal is something we managed to do in a 2017 friendly. But that's a rare occurrence. Their second goal was decisive," said Janne Andersson, Sweden coach.
Sweden welcome Croatia on Sunday 14 November while Portugal are at home against France.
Christian Eriksen marked his 100th Denmark appearance by scoring the penalty that clinched a 1-0 victory over England in the UEFA Nations League.
The result leaves Group 2 wide open heading into the final two rounds of matches in November. England dropped from first into third place behind Denmark and Belgium, which took the lead with a 2-1 victory over Iceland.
Italy slipped to second in its Nations League group after it was held to a 1-1 draw by the Netherlands in a game that paid tribute to Bergamo's many victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
Striker Romelu Lukaku scored both goals to give Belgium a 2-1 win at Iceland, taking his international tally to 55 goals and moving his team back atop its Nations League group.
Star striker Kylian Mbappe scored late as France frustrated Croatia again, winning a closely-contested match 2-1 to stay level on points with group leader Portugal.
