Alexander Isak played his first football since May as he came on as a second-half substitute for Sweden against Kosovo but was powerless to stop his country falling to a humbling defeat
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak suffered a nightmare return to action as Sweden were humbled by Kosovo in World Cup qualifying. The Reds new boy has not played so far this season having effectively gone on strike at Newcastle before securing his British record £125m transfer on deadline day.
But he was named in Sweden’s squad for their qualifiers against Slovenia and Kosovo. Isak did not come off the bench for the 2-2 draw in Ljubljana but replaced former Toon teammate Anthony Elanga for the final 18 minutes in Pristina.
Sweden were already 2-0 down when he came on and Isak could not reverse their fortunes, with the scoreline remaining the same until full-time. It means Sweden have just one point from their first two qualifiers, sitting third in Group B.
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Isak was booked after clashing with Kosovo’s Filan Aliti and had three shots, hitting the target twice but failing to beat the goalkeeper.
First-half strikes from Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough for Kosovo to earn their first points of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Lindon Emerllahu was given his marching orders in stoppage time having picked up two yellow cards, despite only coming on as a substitute seven minutes earlier. But Kosovo had already done enough to seal three points.
Switzerland top Group B with six points having beaten both Kosovo and Slovenia.
Former Newcastle star Jon Dahl Tomasson is Sweden boss and explained why Isak did not feature in the first fixture against Slovenia.
“He had only done three training sessions with the team,” he told Viaplay. “He had no pre-season with the team and of course no playing time. The risk was probably a bit too great to use him today.”
Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres played the full 90 minutes for Sweden but could not find the scoresheet on a chastening night for him and his teammates.
Gyokeres also played the full 90 minutes against Slovenia but failed to find the net.
He will be back in action when Arsenal play Nottingham Forest at the Emirates on Saturday lunchtime. Isak, meanwhile, will be in line for a Liverpool debut when the Reds travel to Turf Moor on Sunday.
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