PreM tItaNs IN sHoot-out
PREMIER League powerhouses Erling Haaland (inset) and Aleksandar Mitrovic will do battle as
Norway and Serbia lock horns for promotion to the Nations League top table.
Mitrovic, who has six goals for Fulham this season, banged in a hat-trick as
Serbia beat
Sweden 4-1 on Saturday.
Haaland has scored six of Norway’s seven Nations League goals and provided the assist for the other.
Victory
But the Manchester City’s goal machine’s strike could not stop them losing 2-1 away to Slovenia on Saturday, meaning Serbia can still pip Norway to top spot in Group B4 with victory tomorrow night.
Sweden took the lead against the run of play through Viktor
Claesson in the 15th minute but they had no answer to the physicality of Serbia’s record goalscorer Mitrovic, who headed his side level three minutes later.
He put them ahead just before the break, shrugging off the Swedish defence before heading home a corner.
He completed his hat-trick three minutes after halftime, ghosting in behind Daniel Sundgren and firing home Vlahovic’s pass with his left foot.
Having taken his international tally to 49, the 28-year-old left the fray with a sore knee two minutes after Sasa Lukic fired a superb fourth to round off the scoring.
Norway and Serbia top the standings on 10 points, with the Norwegians in pole position thanks to a 1-0 win in Belgrade earlier in the campaign.
ON RETIRING as a professional footballer, Roy Keane was asked what he’d miss least about the game.
The Corkman didn’t skip a beat. “Banter.”
He realised what all of us with hard-won wisdom realise. Banter is the great enemy. Especially football banter.
Sadly, though, since taking the Sky shilling, Keane has disappeared down a rabbit-hole.
He has been condemned to an eternity alongside the King of Banter, Micah Richards.
Football banter has become an industry, and it all started with Saint and Greavsie on ITV — though they had the advantage of being actually likeable.
One of their most well-worn tropes was Jimmy Greaves winding up Ian St John about the sorrowful mysteries of Scottish goalkeepers.