England produced a tame performance in their second Group C game at Euro 2024 as Morten Hjulmand’s scorcher from distance earned Denmark a 1-1 draw after Harry Kane’s first goal of the tournament.
The Three Lions took an early first-half lead when Kane converted from some pinball in the area, but Gareth Southgate’s outfit were uninspiring for much of the contest and were made to pay when Hjulmand bagged a belter to earn the Danes a second draw after sharing the spoils with Slovenia.
England remain top of Group C with four points and victory against Slovenia next Tuesday will secure their place as group winners.
How the game unfolded
Despite the post-match debate over the effectiveness of the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden in the opening 1-0 win over Serbia, manager Gareth Southgate opted for an unchanged starting XI at Frankfurt Arena.
Denmark, meanwhile, fielded familiar faces in Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Hojlund, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Kasper Schmeichel and employed a back three like they did in the 1-1 draw with Slovenia.
12 low-key minutes started proceedings before Foden found a smidge of room, waltzing his way into the box before his left-footed strike sailed safely past the top corner.
Jude Bellingham struck just shy of a quarter of an hour against Serbia and England grabbed another early lead courtesy of some sleepy Danish defending. Victor Kristiansen had no idea Kyle Walker was eating up the ground behind him and the Manchester City right-back got onto Bellingham’s pass before sending a low cross into the box.
Two ricochets off Denmark defenders saw a chance fall kindly to Kane and the captain made no mistake on the six-yard line, guiding his effort into the far corner with Schmeichel given no chance.
However, England‘s common tendency to drop reared its ugly head again. Loose passes gave Denmark possession time and time again and the Three Lions were punished when Hjulmand was given space to thrash a shot towards goal from 30 yards, hitting the inside of the post and bouncing over the line to equalise.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side continued to press well at the start of the second half, disturbing an increasingly beleaguered England midfield that offered little obvious plan in and out of possession. Alexander-Arnold was dragged off before the hour mark before Foden smacked the post with a low effort from distance.
Foden, Kane and Saka were brought off in a triple change but it didn’t have the desired effect, with Denmark still looking the…
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