Denmark fight back to overcome Finland

Quickfire second-half goals from Daniel Agger and Nicklas Bendtner helped Denmark to fight back from a goal down and defeat Finland 2-1 in Esbjerg.

The visitors took an unexpected lead on 17 minutes when Aleksei Eremenko beat Anders Lindegaard after a loose pass in the Danish midfield. It was an advantage they held into the second half, before pressure from the home side finally told as Agger (57) and Bendtner (59) turned the game in the hosts' favour.

Finland were under pressure from the off against a dominant Danish outfit. Central defender Jores Okor climbed well to meet a Lasse Schöne free-kick, but his header was saved by Otto Fredrikson in the Finnish goal.

However, it was Mixu Paatelainen's side who, against the run of play, broke the deadlock after 17 minutes. Denmark gave the ball away inside their own half, and Eremenko pounced, sending his shot crashing past Lindegaard in the Danish goal.

Finland, who were unfortunate to lose Eremenko and Fredrikson to injuries before the break, conceded the early second-half initiative. Agger made use of a free-kick from the left to make it 1-1, before Bendtner finished a fine counterattacking move to net the winning goal two minutes later.

Morten Olsen's side dominated the remainder of the match and comfortably held on to their advantage. Finland had opportunities in the closing stages, but failed to trouble Lindegaard.

Denmark: Lindegaard, Jacobsen, Okore, Agger, Silberbauer, Wass (Mikkelsen 46) Kvist (C Poulsen 46) M Jørgensen (J Poulsen 54) Krohn-Dehli (N Jørgensen 68) Schöne (Eriksen 70) Bendtner (Beckmann 87).

Finland: Fredrikson (Hradecky 34) Pasanen (Ojala 76) Moisander (Jalasto 89) Lampi, Sparv, R Eremenko, Halsti, A Eremenko (Sjölund 25) Ring (Hetemaj 69) Hämaläinen, Pukki.