Sweden started impressively and after 25 minutes they got a reward when Yasin Ayari struck with a dream goal on the volley.
Shortly afterwards, a finish was saved from Viktor Gyökeres, who by the way had several chances, and Ken Sema put in the rebound.
Both Ayari and Sema scored their first goals for the national team.
Just before the break, Slovakia reduced the score and goalkeeper Viktor Johansson had to take it when his pass went straight to a Slovak and in the situation that followed, David Strelec made it 2-1.
– It hits the wrong foot. Then we try to remove it, but it didn’t work. Such is life sometimes, says Johansson.
Hugo Larsson substituted
A bit into the second half, the much-discussed Hugo Larsson and regular team captain Victor Nilsson Lindelöf stepped in for Ayari and Alex Douglas, respectively.
In the 72nd minute, Strelec then added his second of the evening when Lukas Haraslin found him in front of the goal.
– It is an unfortunate situation. There’s an inbound and he can bump it. It feels quite simple, says Victor Nilsson Lindelöf, who is disappointed after the point loss:
– Of course it is tough to lose a 2-0 lead. It’s sour.
Kulusevski: “Step in the right direction”
Dejan Kulusevski believes that Sweden is, after all, on the right track.
– It was a step in the right direction, but there are some lessons to be learned, he says.
What lessons do you think about then?
– We may not be able to play the same way for 90 minutes. Sometimes we have to be a little smarter if we want to win football games.
Sweden now has two wins and a draw in its opening three games in the Nations League’s C division. The next match is Estonia away on Monday.
