Alexander Isak brought his sparkling Premier League form to the international stage as Sweden defeated an inexperienced Northern Ireland side 5-1 in their Stockholm friendly.
The Newcastle forward made one goal and scored another in spectacular fashion as the visitors’ five-match unbeaten run was ruthlessly brought to an end. Michael O’Neill’s side had their chances under the closed roof of the Strawberry Arena, but they were wasteful until Isaac Price scored a late consolation.
Northern Ireland came into the match on the back of an encouraging 1-1 friendly draw with Switzerland, but they had lost Trai Hume and Ethan Galbraith from that game to injury. Portsmouth full-back Terry Devlin and Leyton Orient’s on-loan Tottenham forward, Jamie Donley, were handed full debuts as O’Neill started eight players aged 21 or under.
Sweden, by contrast, were smarting from Saturday’s embarrassing 1-0 defeat in Luxembourg. That result marked a nightmare debut for new head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, but he saw his side bounce back by going ahead after only seven minutes on Tuesday evening.
Isak, who has scored 23 goals for his club so far this season, was the creator this time, expertly bringing down a high ball in the area before rolling the ball to Emil Holm, who was free at the far post to slot beyond Pierce Charles from six yards out.
O’Neill’s side had actually made a bright start, with Justin Devenney forcing a save from the Sweden keeper Viktor Johansson inside the first minute, and Ruairi McConville heading a free-kick into the side netting. But with Isak on the prowl the hosts were always menacing going forward, and moments later he swept past Paddy McNair before hitting a rising shot which flew just over the crossbar.
Back came Northern Ireland and Price, their goalscorer against Switzerland, saw his shot saved before Brodie Spencer curled narrowly over the top. Sweden scored their second after 33 minutes when Charles could only push a low cross from Gabriel Gudmundsson straight to Benjamin Nygren, who was left to tap into an empty net.
The visitors kept pushing, and Johansson had to come up with an acrobatic save to tip a George Savile curler over the crossbar. But just before the hour mark, Sweden had a third when Nygren turned Sebastian Nanasi’s free-kick onto a post and the former Watford winger Ken Sema lashed in the rebound.
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Five minutes later Isak had his goal, capitalising on some sloppy Northern Ireland passing on the right flank, cutting inside and curling a superb drive home from the edge of the area. Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga, on as a substitute, tapped in the fifth with 13 minutes left.
Price then scored a deflected consolation goal in the 90th minute to give the 450 hardy travelling fans something to cheer. O’Neill’s side will have to learn from a lesson in finishing when they go into June friendlies against Iceland and Denmark before the start of World Cup qualifying in September.
Germany, Luxembourg and Slovakia await Northern Ireland in Group A, while Sweden are in an open-looking Group B with Kosovo, Slovenia and Switzerland.