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Turkey makes stunning comeback with late Akbaba double, beating Sweden 3-2 at Nations League

Compiled from wire services SPORTS
Published September 11,2018
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Turkey's midfielder Emre Akbaba celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Nations League football match between Sweden and Turkey at the Friends Arena in Solna, on September 10, 2018. (AFP Photo)

Turkey clawed back from a two-goal deficit to defeat Sweden 3-2 Monday in a UEFA Nations League group match at Sweden's Friends Arena.

The first half ended 1-0 with a goal by Sweden's Isaac Kiese Thelin. Sweden doubled its lead in the second half thanks to a goal by Viktor Claesson.

But shortly after, Hakan Çalhanoğlu came through for Turkey with a shot that got past goalkeeper Robin Olsen.

Emre Akbaba built on the momentum with two superb goals in two minutes, sealing a dramatic 3-2 win for Turkey which saw Sweden defeated at home in their first League B, Group 2 match.

Russia beat Turkey 2-1 Friday in their first UEFA Nations League game.

The fifth day of the tournament ended with eight matches.

Other results of the fifth day are as follows:

League A

Group 3: Portugal-Italy: 1-0

Portugal, without the resting Cristiano Ronaldo, took the points in League A Group 3 thanks to a 48th-minute goal from Andre Silva in Lisbon.

Italy coach Roberto Mancini made nine changes from the side that began the team's Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Poland, but the Azzurri were second best against Portugal.

"Unfortunately we made some mistakes and must find a way to limit them," Mancini said.

"The boys did all they could, but we must find solutions to score, otherwise we will never win.

"We must develop. We have young players who are not used to playing at high level, but we knew that. In October we will be in better form, but we must find ways to score."

League B

Group 2: Sweden-Turkey: 2-3

League C

Group 1: Scotland-Albania: 2-0

Group 4: Serbia-Romania: 2-2

Montenegro-Lithuania: 2-0

League D

Group 1: Andorra-Kazakhstan: 1-1

Group 3: Malta-Azerbaijan: 1-1

Kosovo-Faroe Islands: 2-0

Kosovo got its first competitive win thanks to second-half goals from Arber Zeneli and Atdhe Nuhiu in Pristina to go top of D3 with four points from two games.