2-0 for the hosts of this EURO against a Denmark without aim
The German football team qualified this Saturday for the quarterfinals of the men’s Euro Cup, which is being held in their country, thanks to a 2-0 victory against Denmark, thanks to a match played at the Signal Iduna Park and resolved with a penalty, converted by Kai Havertz, and a goal from Jamal Musiala after the break.
Borussia Dortmund got off to a blistering start, with Nico Schlotterbeck scoring a goal with a powerful header from a corner taken by Toni Kroos. However, the English referee Michael Oliver ruled it out after Joshua Kimmich fouled Andreas Skov Olsen in a block prior to the corner kick.
Kimmich then came close to redeeming himself with a powerful right-footed shot from outside the area that forced Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make a nice dive to clear the ball for a corner. Schlotterbeck was on the verge of goal again when he came out with a header, but Schmeichel just deflected his effort with his glove.
Julian Nagelsmann’s charges were comfortable and Denmark was unable to fill the gaps. This was later demonstrated by a long pass from central defender Antonio Rüdiger, directly into the rival area, for Kai Havertz to hook a volley with his left foot and for Schmeichel to once again appear as his team’s savior, sending the ball to the corner.
The response from the Nordic team was made to wait until the 20th minute, when Christian Eriksen punctured a lob ball to confuse the German defense, although Rüdiger cleared the shot from the edge of the area with his left boot. That action encouraged Kasper Hjulmand’s men, who had another chance to score before the half hour mark.
It was with a left footed shot by Joakim Maehle, on the turn, from inside the area and on the side. Two minutes later, a direct free kick taken by Eriksen from the balcony of the area, which again saw the ball crash into Rüdiger, also failed to score. All of this served as a prelude to a tremendous rain that fell suddenly at Signal Iduna Park.
At UEFA’s request, Oliver halted the match under threat of thunderstorms and the players took refuge for almost half an hour in the changing rooms with their technical staff and the refereeing team. As soon as the match resumed, Schmeichel again made a brilliant save after a header from Havertz at point-blank range, after a cross from David Raum from the left.
Opposite, Rasmus Hojlund sent a right hand into the side of the net after a mistake by Schlotterbeck in getting the ball out. Before the break, Denmark had another chance in a counterattack led by former Sevilla player Thomas Delaney, who combined with Eriksen and extended the run for the arrival of Hojlund, whose shot was thwarted by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
After the break, Denmark had barely had time to settle down when a free kick was launched into Neuer’s area and caused a ruckus. Delaney touched the ball at an angle, it bounced off German midfielder Robert Andrich and Joachim Andersen took advantage of it to finish into the back of the net in the six-yard box. But VAR quickly cut short Denmark’s joy.
As a result of television reviews, Delaney was called offside in his previous action, so the goal did not go up on the scoreboard. To make matters worse, on the next play, a Raum cross tripped on Andersen’s right arm and Oliver declared a penalty. Despite Hjulmand’s protests, Havertz launched it and made it 1-0 with a low shot that hit the post.
Spurred on by that success, the Arsenal and ‘Die Mannschaft’ striker immediately created two more clear chances, one of which came when he chipped in front of Schmeichel and went just wide. Hojlund responded with a left-footed shot that went straight in and was easily caught by Neuer.
The Denmark coach made several substitutions in an attempt to get his men off to a flying start, but they left too much space at the back on a couple of occasions and that’s where Musiala slipped through in the 68th minute, behind Andersen, to sprint towards Schmeichel’s area. The young Bayern Munich striker did not waste the opportunity and scored the 2-0.
On the local side, Nagelsmann also made changes to balance his squad and give alternatives to other young values, such as Florian Wirtz, who scored a goal in injury time after a beautiful maneuver in front of the rival goalkeeper. But the VAR did not validate it, due to offside, just like in other previous couples of matches.
So neither he, nor Niclas Füllkrug nor anyone else could increase Germany’s advantage, which despite everything pulled back the bolt and did not suffer in the final stages until securing the victory. Thanks to this good harvest, ‘Die Mannschaft’ reached the quarterfinals and there they will face the winner of this Sunday’s duel between Spain and Georgia.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: GERMANY, 2 – DENMARK, 0 (0-0, at half-time).
–LINEUPS.
GERMANY: New; Kimmich, Rüdiger, Schlotterbeck, Raum (Henrichs, min.81); Andrich (Can, min.64), Kroos, Gündogan (Füllkrug, min.64); Musiala (Wirtz, min.81), Sané (Anton, min.88); and Havertz.
DENMARK: Schmeichel; Andersen, Christensen (Bruun Larsen, min.81), Vestergaard; Bah (Kristiansen, min.81), Delaney (Norgaard, min.69), Hojbjerg, Maehle; Eriksen, Svok Olsen (Poulsen, min.69) and Hojlund (Wind, min.81).
–GOALS:
1-0, min.53: Havertz (p).
2-0, min.68: Musiala.
–REFEREE: Michael Oliver (ENG). He gave yellow cards to Bah (min.57) and Maehle (min.60) in Denmark.
–STADIUM: Signal Iduna Park (Dortmund), 61,612 spectators.