-
Denmark 2-1 Belarus: Jorgensen superb-strike
Host nation Denmark kept alive their hopes of a place in the last four of Euro U21 last four with a 2-1 win over Group A rivals Belarus in Aarhus.
A capacity crowd of around 20,000 at the Aarhus Stadion were silenced on 20 minutes when Dmitri Baga raced clear to round the Danish keeper Mikkel Andersen before slipping the ball into the unguarded net.
There was barely time for Belarus to celebrate their lead when they were undone less than two minutes later.
Mikhail Sivakov was deemed guilty of pushing Nicolai Jorgensen in the box and Christian Eriksen converted on the rebound after Alexsandr Gutor had saved his penalty.
If there was more than a touch of good fortune about the equaliser, there was nothing lucky surrounding the winner as Jorgensen evaded two visiting players before slamming a stunning effort into the corner of the net from 25 yards out.
It was little more than the Danes deserved having dominated the second period against a Belarus side who had dumped Iceland 2-0 in their opening Group A match on Saturday.
Switzerland are almost assured of a place in the last four courtesy of wins over Denmark and Iceland in their opening matches, but Belarus and Denmark are level on three points before the final round of fixtures.
Switzerland face Belarus on Saturday, while Denmark take on Iceland knowing that a win should be enough to seal their progress in the tournament.
Denmark will certainly go into the match in a positive frame of mind having showed considerable character after falling behind against Belarus.
Nickie Nielsen should have scored on 29 minutes when he poked the ball straight at Gutor after beating the offside trap, while Eriksen showed his class with a surging run four minutes after half-time as he bounded to the edge of the box before http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifuncorking a shot that was wonderfully swatted away by the impressive Gutor.
Mike Jensen did likewise on 59 minutes with a shot that Gutor got a toe to, but the Belarus keeper was finally beaten by Jorgensen's terrific winner as he could only stand and watch as the ball sailed beyond him.
Nielsen crossed for Bashkim Kadrii on 74 minutes, but the Danish substitute nodded into the side netting. It was to prove immaterial to the final outcome, even if Denmark probably deserved to win by a greater margin.
Eurosport
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Team Line-up:
Denmark U21: Andersen, Wass, Mathias Zanka Jorgensen, Bjelland, Boilesen, Jensen, Eriksen, Albaek, Dalsgaard, Nickie Bille Nielsen, Nicolai Jorgensen Subs: Lossl, Randrup, Agger, Fenger, Lasse Nielsen, Juelsgaard, Delaney, Poulsen, Frederiksen, Nielsen, Kadrii, Hojlund
Belarus U21: Gutor, Veretilo, Filipenko, Politevich, Polyakov, Baga, Bukatkin, Sivakov, Yurchenko, Dragun, Voronkov Subs: Gomelko, Matveichik, Ostroukh, Skavysh, Nekhaychik, Ryzhko, Rekish, Gordeychuk
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments: