Jota Makes Up For Ronaldo's Absence As Portugal Beats Sweden

LISBON, Portugal: Diogo Jota scored two goals and set up another as Portugal defeated Sweden 3-0 in the Nations League on Wednesday in its first game since Cristiano Ronaldo had to be dropped from the squad after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Ronaldo went back to Italy earlier Wednesday to finish his isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The Juventus forward was said to be asymptomatic. He had played in the national team’s 0-0 draw at France on Sunday.

Jota, who came into the lineup to help make up for Ronaldos absence, set up Bernardo Silvas opening goal in the 21st minute and scored himself in the 44th. The new Liverpool forward finished off the scoring after going past a defender inside the area in the 72nd.

Some 5,000 fans were allowed to watch the match at the Jos Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon. Nearly 2,500 had been in the stadium for the teams 0-0 friendly against Spain last week as authorities try to evaluate whether to allow fans back in local soccer competitions.

The victory left defending Nations League champion Portugal at the top of Group 3 with 10 points. France, which won 2-1 at Croatia in the other group match, also reached 10 points, but it has a worse goal difference than Portugal. Croatia stayed in third place with three points, while Sweden has zero points.

In the next round of matches in November, Portugal visits France and Croatia plays at Sweden.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Spor