Larsen brace lifts understrength Norway past Sweden
Norway made light of Erling Haaland's absence by beating neighbour Sweden 3-1 in a World Cup warm-up match in Oslo, as Jorgen Strand Larsen scored twice.
Haaland and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard were handed extra rest as their team-mates played their final game on home soil before departing for the United States this week.
That allowed other players to stake a claim for minutes at the tournament, with Crystal Palace striker Larsen chief among them.
His glancing header diverted Julian Ryerson's right-wing delivery into the far corner to put Norway ahead in the ninth minute, then RB Leipzig's Antonio Nusa lashed in a second from the left side of the area nine minutes later.
Norway went 3-0 up in the 37th minute when Larsen and Ryerson combined again, with the former getting in front of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom to head in the latter's corner on that occasion.
Ryerson had what would have been a third assist – for David Moller Wolfe – chalked off just after the hour mark, due to the Wolves wing-back being caught offside when finishing at the back post, before Stale Solbakken made a swathe of substitutions.
Sweden boss Graham Potter also made far-reaching changes from the bench, with Alexander Isak among those introduced, and the Liverpool man pulled a goal back with a brilliant, dipping strike in the 76th minute.
Sebastian Nanasi's well-taken header was also disallowed for offside for Sweden, which faces Greece in another friendly in Stockholm on Friday before opening its World Cup campaign against Tunisia on 14 June.
Norway will take on Morocco in New Jersey on Monday, ahead of its Group I meetings with Iraq, Senegal and France.
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