Russia down Denmark to spoil Sørensen's night

Russia condemned Thomas Sørensen to defeat on his 100th international appearance, securing a 2-0 victory against their fellow UEFA EURO 2012 finalists Denmark.

Andrey Arshavin produced an excellent display for the visitors, setting up Roman Shirokov to open the scoring after just four minutes before doubling his side's lead with an impressive strike from 25 metres before the break. The hosts rallied in the second half but failed to find a way past FC Anzhi Makhachkala goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov.

Russia made the perfect start to the match when Arshavin, currently on loan at FC Zenit St Petersburg from Arsenal FC, found Shirokov, his club colleague, who cut in from the left and fired an unstoppable strike beyond Sørensen. The hosts responded moments later with Simon Poulsen testing Gabulov before Dennis Rommedahl found Nicklas Bendtner only for the big striker to miss the target.

Despite Denmark dominating possession Yuri Zhirkov and Arshavin continued to pose a threat and just before half-time the latter struck. Cutting in from the left the evasive forward's shot from distance was too hot for Sørensen to handle and Russia went into the break with a two-goal cushion.

Substitute Tobias Mikkelsen spurned a couple of good chances for Morten Olsen's side early in the second half but the rhythm of the game was lost as both coaches made changes and Russia held on to ensure Sørensen's 100th outing ended in defeat. Denmark have room for improvement before facing the Netherlands in Kharkiv on 9 June in their first UEFA EURO 2012 game while for Russia, this was an encouraging step in the build-up to their 12 June opener against Poland in Warsaw.