New Delhi: Denmark and Serbia played in what was a must-win game for either side as their group was wide open heading into the game with all four teams having a chance to qualify for the next round. Both teams played out a drab 0-0 draw, similar to the other game in Group C.
Serbia were coming in following a draw with Slovenia thanks to a last-minute equalizer from Luka Jovic whereas Denmark were also coming in off the back of a draw against England. Demark’s draw with Serbia meant that the Danes went through to the next round while the Serbs finished bottom of the group despite having a talented squad.
Denmark needed just a point to secure their qualification to the next round and manager Kasper Hjulmand chose to make just a single change to his side that started against England in the previous game. Alexander Bah replaced Rasmus Kristensen at right wing-back while Christian Eriksen made a record 133rd appearance for his side.
Serbia’s Dragan Stojković decided to make three changes to the side that drew with Slovenia as Filip Mladenovic, Dusan Tadic and Dusan Vlahovic made way for Lazar Samardzic, Srdjan Mijailovic, and Nemanja Gudlej for this crucial encounter.
The game between Denmark and Serbia was an extremely slow one and rarely produced anything of note as Denmark looked happy to settle for a point, where a win would’ve seen them qualify as group winners. Having finished as runners-up in Group C, the Danes will now face hosts Germany in their round of 16 clash and will have to majorly improve their performance if they are to progress from that round against a scary German side.
Key Highlights as Denmark secure knockouts berth
Serbia and Denmark’s draw sees Denmark through to the knockouts (Photo by Franz Kirchmayr/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)
Denmark got the game underway in Munich and made a bright start to the game as Serbia sat deep, allowing Denmark all the possession in the world.
The first closest chance of the game came in the 17th minute when Maehle cut in and put a delightful cross in for Bah but the wing-back’s header went wide of the near post.
Another quick attack from Denmark draws a save out of Rajkovic as he dives low to his right, just managing to keep out a low shot towards the bottom corner by Eriksen. A well-struck shot resulted in another corner for the Danes.
A defensive mistake by the Serbs allows Hojlund some space to take a shot at goal from inside the box, but his low shot is stopped by Rajkovic once again. He was single-handedly keeping his side in the game.
After coming on, Dusan Tadic slipped Jovic through with a defence-splitting pass, but he couldn’t strike the ball clearly on the second attempt. Joachim Andersen tried to get the ball away but ended up turning it into the back of the net. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.
Alexander Bah earned his side a corner and Vestergaard rose the highest to meet the delivery but his header was straight at Rajkovic.
The final chance of the game fell to Dusan Vlahovic as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic chipped a ball in towards his striker but his looping header went beyond the goal-line and landed up at the top of Schmeichel’s goal as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
Denmark and Serbia took on each other at the Allianz Arena in the final group stage game of Group C. Both teams played out a boring 0-0 draw as Serbia finish bottom of the group and Denmark go through as runners-up. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
