Gyokores hat-trick inspired by Celtic’s in-form forward
In-form Celtic forward Benjamin Nygren’s World Cup dream is still alive, but two Rangers men suffered heartache in the semi-finals of the play-offs on Thursday night.
Nygren started for Sweden in their match against Ukraine and while his efforts were usurped by Arsenal hat-trick hero Viktor Gyokores, he played a starring role.
The match was played in Valencia due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and denied home advantage, it was a difficult evening for the ‘hosts’.
Celtic forward Benjamin Nygren (No 10) helped Sweden beat Ukraine.placeholder image
Celtic forward Benjamin Nygren (No 10) helped Sweden beat Ukraine. | AFP via Getty Images
Gyokores has been in good form for English Premier League side Arsenal and it took him just six minutes to break the deadlock, tapping in after an excellent cross from Nygren.
The striker then added a second just after the restart and completed his hat-trick with a penalty on 72 minutes.
Ukraine landed a late consolation through young striker Matvii Ponomarenko but by that point, the tie was over.
Sweden will now host Poland in Solna for a place at the World Cup after the Poles inflicted heartache on Rangers playmaker Nedim Bajrami and his Albanian teammates.
Bajrami started the game in Warsaw and was celebrating on 42 minutes when Arber Hoxha opened the scoring for the visitors. However, Poland regrouped and netted second half goals through Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski to advance.
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It was no better an evening for Bajrami’s Rangers teammate Bojan Miovski, who came off the bench in North Macedonia’s 4-0 thumping by Denmark in Copenhagen.
Gustav Isaksen scored twice for Denmark - who were without Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel due to injury - while Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard also got in on the act.
They will play either Republic of Ireland or Czechia away from home in the final next Tuesday.
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