Unusual reason why Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson rushed down tunnel during Sweden win

Leeds United defender Gabriel Gudmundsson was absent for a period of Sweden’s 3-1 win against Poland after losing a contact lens.

Gudmundsson was handed his first start of the autumn international break on Monday after a late substitute’s appearance against Romania last week. The 27-year-old played the full 90 minutes in Solna as goals from Benjamin Nygren, Yasin Ayari and Viktor Gyokeres extended their perfect start to the Nations League.

But Sweden were reduced to 10 men for a few minutes after a collision between Gudmundsson and a Poland player. The Leeds favourite received medical attention before rushing around the pitch and down the tunnel, back into the home dressing room. He returned a couple of minutes later.

“He [the Polish player] threw his hand up in my face,” Gudmundsson told Swedish outlet Sportbladet. “It was a bit unsightly. I think he [the referee] lost some clear free kicks for us today.

“I needed to get that extra lens in quickly and put it in. I tried to hurry as much as I could. It went a little slower than I had hoped, but it worked out.”

Gudmundsson quickly returned to action once the lens was back in and performed well at left-back. Sweden were 1-0 up at the time but only managed to hold onto that lead until a couple of minutes before half-time when Sebastian Szymański levelled.

At half-time, Gudmundsson headed back down the tunnel but much slower this time. The Leeds man was limping off the pitch but not injured enough to miss any more action, as he returned to complete the 90 minutes.

“I blocked a shot right at the end [of the first half] and hit it in the wrong place,” he explained. “Damn boring first half. But glad everything went well.”

Gudmundsson will hope to retain his place in the starting line-up when Sweden are next in action. The left-back is due to face an Elland Road teammate on Friday when his nation travel to Tarik Muharemovic’s Bosnia and Herzegovina.