Sweden beat Belarus 4-0 on Saturday evening, with Pontus Jansson starting.
Sweden’s Pontus Jansson in action against Belarus
Sweden kept hold of second place in Group A of UEFA’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers with a thumping 4-0 home win over Belarus on Saturday.
RB Leipzig’s star winger Emil Forsberg started the rout by scoring a 19th minute penalty, and he popped up after the break to make it 2-0.
Marcus Berg added a third before Isaac Kiese Thelin completed the thrashing with a late fourth, keeping Sweden just three points behind France at the top of Group A.
Sweden manager Janne Andersson will be delighted with four goals, but a clean sheet is another major boost, meaning they have conceded just three goals so far this campaign.
A key part of his defence on Saturday was Leeds United’s Pontus Jansson, as he started alongside former Wigan Athletic flop Andreas Granqvist in the heart of defence, with Celtic’s Mikael Lustig and Copenhagen’s Ludwig Augustinsson in the full back positions.
Jansson was making just his 11th appearance for Sweden but took his chance when it came, helping limit Belarus to just five shots on goal and one on target.
Pontus Jansson of Leeds United celebrates
Having become a popular figure at Elland Road this season, Leeds fans took to Twitter to praise Jansson for a clean sheet on the international stage before calling for him to be protected from injury with bubble wrap.
Sweden fans called Jansson ‘dominant’ and fired a warning to Reading by claiming that the centre back just loves keeping clean sheets, whether it’s for club or country.
What did you think of Jansson’s display against Belarus?
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