Portugal 3-0 Sweden: Two-goal Jota steps up in Ronaldo absence

Diogo Jota scored two and assisted another as Portugal earned a 3-0 win over Sweden in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence to remain top of the Nations League Group A3 standings.

Juventus forward Ronaldo scored both goals in last month’s 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture but 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, stepped up by playing in Bernardo Silva for the opener and then scoring the second before half-time.

The Liverpool attacker rounded off the scoring 18 minutes from time as the Nations League holders returned to winning ways after successive stalemates with Spain and France over the past week.