Celtic star finds net on international duty as Rangers man dropped from starting XI

A number of Scottish Premiership players were on international duty on Monday night

Benjamin Nygren was on target for Sweden in a 3-1 win over Poland in the Nations League.

The Celtic midfielder scored the opening goal with an eighth minute header at the Strawberry Arena in Solna.

Celtic's Benjamin Nygren celebrates after opening the scoring for Sweden in their 3-1 win over Poland in Solna. (Photo by Michael Campanella/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The 25-year-old started the match in an advanced role, supporting Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, who was also on the scoresheet to put Sweden 3-1 up in the 72nd minute.

Poland had cancelled out Nygren's opener through Sebastian Szymanski two minutes before half-time but Yasin Ayari put the hosts back in front before Gyokeres made sure of the win.

Nygren was replaced in the 80th minute as Sweden made it two wins from two in the Nations League following Friday's 2-1 win over Romania. The goal was his fourth in 17 caps for his country.

Next up for Sweden is a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday before facing Romania in Bucharest on Monday.

It was not such a good night for Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin, who was dropped from the Belgium starting 11 for the Nations League match against France in Brussels.

To make matters worse for the Ibrox man, he was introduced as a substitute in the 85th minute, only for France to score the winner three minutes later through a stunning Michael Olise breakaway goal.

Raskin, who started the 2-0 win over Italy in Rome on Friday, will hope to be reinstated to Mark van Bommel's line-up when Belgium host Turkey on Friday before the return game against France in Paris on Monday.

Belgium's Nicolas Raskin and Maxim De Cuyper after the 1-0 defeat by France. | BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Earlier on Monday, Rangers striker Kevin Kelsy netted his first international goal for Venezuela but was on the losing side in a 2-1 friendly defeat by Japan in Hiroshima. Meanwhile, fellow Ibrox star Kim Min-Su was given the second-half as South Korea lost 4-1 at home to Uruguay in a friendly.

Elsewhere, Hearts defender MJ Kamson-Kamara made a late substitute appearance for Sierra Leone in their 1-0 defeat by Equatorial Guinea in an African Cup of Nations qualifier played in Cameroon.

Kamson-Kamara, who is on loan at Kilmarnock, came off the bench in the 82nd minute while Hibs midfielder Azeem Abdulai remained an unused substitute. Both players had made their senior debuts for Sierra Leone four days earlier, coming off the bench during a dramatic 3-2 defeat against Zimbabwe.

In other AFCON qualifiers, Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise started for Zimbabwe but was replaced at half-time in their 2-1 defeat against DR Congo, while Celtic winger Sebastian Tounekti came on in the 83rd minute for Tunisia as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Botswana.