Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a hat-trick last night that inspired Serbia to a come-from-behind victory over Sweden in Belgrade and set up a Nations’ League showdown with Norway on Tuesday night.

The Fulham forward, who has now found the net 49 times for his country, continued his sensational form this season after Viktor Claesen had stunned the Rajko Miti? Stadium. Mitrovic took just three minutes to level matters with a looping far post header – making amends for a dreadful miss earlier – and put the Serbs in front with another bullet header from a corner on the stroke of half time. The talismanic striker completed his hat-trick three minutes after the interval, evading the attentions of Daniel Sundgren, and firing  Dusan Vlahovic’s pass past Robin Olsen, who had been brilliant in the first half.

Any concern about Mitrovic being taken off later in the second half was eased by the man himself in his post-match interview, when he told Arenasport that he was substituted as a precaution:

“I took a knock, it’s a bruised knee and I will go to the physios now to assess the damage but I should be fit for the Norway game.”

Torino midfielder Sasa Lukic added a fourth to make the final score even more emphatic and leave Sweden, currently bottom of the group, in danger of demotion if they don’t beat Slovenia on Tuesday.

Dragan Stojkovic’s side now face the Norwegians, who were beaten 2-1 by Slovenia last night, in Oslo on Tuesday night to decide who wins Group B4 and earns promotion. Both teams have ten points but Norway are top of the group on their head-to-head record following a 1-0 win in Belgrade secured by the outstanding Erling Haaland.