Sweden claim Nations League promotion with 2-0 win over Russia
Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Russia's Roman Neustadter and Sweden's Isaac Kiese Thelin in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERS
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Victor Lindelof and Marcus Berg secured a 2-0 win over Russia on Tuesday and promotion from Nations League B Group 2 thanks to a better head-to-head record than the visitors.
Both teams finished on seven points but a scoreless draw in Russia and Tuesday's win in Stockholm propelled the Swedes into the top tier of the new competition as group winners.
Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Russia's Anton Zabolotny and Sweden's Andreas Granqvist in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERS
Turkey were relegated to League C with three points following their 1-0 loss at home to Sweden on Saturday.
Defender Lindelof, named best player at Sweden's annual football awards last week, rattled home Mikael Lustig's knock-down from a corner to give his side the lead in the 41st minute.
Striker Marcus Berg, heavily criticised for his wasteful finishing during Sweden's remarkable run to the World Cup quarter-finals where they lost to England, extracted a measure of revenge by wrapping up the win with a tap-in in the 72nd.
Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Sweden's Kristoffer Olsson and Russia's Ari in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERS
As this year's World Cup hosts Russia chased the game and made a number of changes in attack, the Swedes lost forward Viktor Claesson to a twisted ankle but the central defensive pairing of Lindelof and Andreas Granqvist held firm.
Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen had little to do as the expected Russian onslaught failed to materialise, and Janne Andersson's side closed out the year with a vital win.
The Swedes will be in League A for the next Nations League campaign and have an extra chance to qualify for Euro 2020 via the playoffs if they need it. Russia will remain in League B.
Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Sweden's Victor Nilsson Lindelof celebrates his goal with teammate Andreas Granqvist. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERS
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor)
Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Russia's Vladislav Ignatyev and Sweden's Martin Olsson in action. TT News Agency/Nils Petter Nilsson/ via REUTERSSoccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Sweden's Kristoffer Olsson and Russia's Aleksandr Erokhin and Ruslan Kambolov in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERSSoccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Sweden's Kristoffer Olsson and Russia's Dmitri Poloz in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERSSoccer Football - UEFA Nations League - League B - Group 2 - Sweden v Russia - Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden - November 20, 2018. Russia's Artem Dzyuba and Sweden's Jakob Johansson and Mikael Lustig in action. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer/ via REUTERS
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