Denmark hosted Russia in Copenhagen for their final match of the group stages in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.
Denmark came with the aim of at least getting a third-place finish after a disappointing campaign in their group.
The game started in Russia’s favour as they held most of the possession in the opening minutes of the first half.
Monaco midfielder Aleksandr Golovin was showing hints of his World Cup form early on, as he had a couple of chances to make a breakthrough for his side.
The first solid chance came in the 18th minute after he made a dangerous run into the Danish box, only for Kasper Schmeichel to save his drilled shot.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg came close to scoring a worldly from 35-yards out just under the half-hour mark, but his shot narrowly missed the Russian goal.
As the first half went on, Denmark slowly started to dominate with possession but only managed to fire one shot on target.
Suddenly in the closing minutes of the first half, the hosts had their breakthrough in front of home fans.
A young Mikkel Damsgaard scored an incredible curler dipping from 25-yards out past the Russian goalkeeper and the stadium erupted in celebration. Another contender for goal of the tournament.
The first half ended 1-0 at the Parken Stadium with Damsgaard becoming the youngest Dane to score at a major competition at 20-years-old.
Second Half
Things were going from bad to worse for Russia in the second half, as they let in a sloppy goal under the hour-mark from a defensive error.
Daler Kuzyaev made a low-effort back pass to his keeper only for Yussuf Poulsen to intercept the ball in the box and score an easy goal past Matvei Safonov.
The chances of Denmark qualifying through goal difference looked slim as they suddenly conceded a penalty 10 minutes later.
Up stepped Russia captain Artem Dzyuba to reduce the deficit from the penalty spot and give the home fans something to worry about.
The Danes were relying on Belgium to score against Finland so they can atleast hope for a third-place finish.
Luckily for Denmark, news spread that Finland had finally conceded against Belgium, which meant that they had the chance to secure a second-place finish in their group.
The hosts extended their lead with another goal of the tournament contender, this time by Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen in the 80th minute. From 30-yards out, 25-year-old blasted the ball into the Russian net, surprising everyone.
The Red and Whites sealed their second-place finish (via goal difference) with a fourth goal only a couple of minutes later. This time from a quick counter attack, Joakim Mæhle slotted the ball past Safonov from near post.
The game ended with a comfortable 4-1 victory to Denmark who surely dedicate their win to Christian Eriksen.
Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 via Twitter
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!