COPENHAGEN (Xinhua) -- In their last game in Euro 2020 Group B, Denmark claimed the second place after stunning Russia 4-1 on the goals from Mikkel Damsgaard, Yussuf Poulsen, Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle at the Parken Stadium on Monday.
The Danes assumed control from the starting whistle and dominated possession but for all that they weren’t able to cause any damage to Russia’s well-positioned defense.
Russia focused on counterattacks and looked dangerous in the 18th minute when Aleksandr Golovin solo run and effort on target forced Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel into action.
Denmark remained the more active team as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s effort missed the goal just wide at the half hour mark.
The hosts efforts eventually paid off eight minutes later after Damsgaard drilled the ball from the edge of the area into the top right corner to make it 1-0 on the scoreboards.
After the interval, Denmark started where they left off and pressed the Russians whenever they were on the ball.
Stanislav Cherchesov’s men couldn’t handle the pressure as defender Roman Zobnin’s return pass was intercepted by Yussuf Poulsen, who took advantage and doubled the lead at the hour mark.
Russia kept it bowling and halved the deficit ten minutes later after Artyom Dzyuba converted a foul play penalty.
Denmark didn’t allow Russia to gain a foothold into the contest as Christensen hammered home a rebound from 22 meters to restore the two-goal lead.
The hosts weren’t done with the scoring and added another goal to their lead after Maehle finished the job following a counterattack.
With the result, Denmark snatched the 2nd spot with three points on goal difference, behind Group B winners Belgium (9 points) and followed by Finland (3 points) and Russia (3 points).