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New Manchester City forward Erling Haaland continued his fine form for Norway as he netted twice to help his country defeat Sweden 3-2.
Aged just 21, he £51million man took his international tally to 20 goals in 21 games at international level with a brilliant brace in Oslo.
After a well-placed header in the first half, Haaland send Robin Olsen the wrong way from the penalty spot in the second period to help Norwary on their way to a second victory over Sweden in a week.
Emil Forsberg did halve the deficit just after the hour mark when he made it 2-1 with a finely-placed effort from the edge of the area.
But former Crystal Palace forward Alexander Sorloth restored the hosts’ two-goal lead just 15 minutes later when Haaland picked out his strike partner with a neat chip.
The hosts were dealt a late scare when Coventry City forward Viktor Gyokeres scored a second for Sweden when goalkeeper Orjan Nyland collided with teammate Leo Skiri Ostigard and dropped the ball, but survived a late flurry to register their third win from four games.
Norway, who missed out on qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, are now four points clear at the top of the group, though Serbia, who sit second, have a game in hand.
In Group B4, the spoils were shared as Slovenia and Serbia drew 2-2.
Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, who scored 43 goals in 44 games in the Championship last season, scored Serbia’s second, rising highest to head home from Dusan Tadic’s cross to put the visitors into a two-goal lead.
It was the 27-year-old’s 46th goal for his country, which extended his record as Serbia’s all-time top goalscorer.
But Slovenia hit back in the second half, with goals from Adam Gnezda Cerin and Benjamin Sesko ensuring the points were shared.
Elsewhere, San Marino – FIFA’s lowest ranked side, were perhaps unfortunate to lose 1-0 away to Malta, with Zach Muscat scoring the only goal of the game.
The visitors remain bottom of Group D2, with Malta second only on goal difference to leaders Estonia.
In Volos, Greece were confirmed as winners of Group C2, keeping up their 100 per cent record in beating Kosovo 2-0.
In what was ultimately a comfortable outing for Gus Poyet’s side, Giorgos Giakoumakis opened the scoring before Petros Mantalos wrapped things up deep into injury time.
Meanwhile, North Macedonia hammered Gibraltar 4-0 in Group C4 largely in thanks to a brace from Bojan Miovski, with all four goals coming in the first half of the match.
Georgia and Bulgaria played out a 0-0 draw in the other game in the group, but Georgia are now just three points clear at the top of the table following North Macedonia’s win.
Bulgaria are third with three points, with Gibraltar bottom with one point.
