Lorentzen edges Danes in front

Denmark will take a one-goal lead into the second leg of their UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off against Russia after Kasper Lorentzen's strike earned a priceless away victory in Krasnodar.

Danish edge
The 19-year-old Brøndby IF midfielder struck the crucial goal on the hour to give his side the advantage going into the second game at his home ground on Wednesday to reward the away team for an impressive display. Lorentzen reacted swiftest after Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had denied Martin Bergveld to give the Danes a precious advantage in the tie.

Rasmussen denied
The visitors applied pressure on Russia - who included four players with senior international experience - early on, and created the first clear chance in the 23rd minute when Morten Nicolas Rasmussen found space and beat Akinfeev with his shot only for the ball to strike the crossbar. The home side enjoyed large spells of possession but Denmark looked more dangerous on the counterattack, with Rasmussen causing problems again with a first-time shot which was saved by Akinfeev, while for Russia Yuri Zhirkov and Rouslan Nakhoushev both shot wide as the home side struggled to carve out genuine opportunities in the first 45 minutes.

Lorentzen decisive
Denmark finally broke the deadlock after 60 minutes when Bergveld forced a spectacular one-handed save from Akinfeev after meeting Tomas Kahlenberg's cut-back, but the PFC CSKA Moskva goalkeeper was helpless to stop Lorentzen slotting in the rebound from two metres. Russia introduced a second striker in Aleksandr Pavlenko as they sought an equaliser, Ivan Saenko and Zhirkov both being denied by Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard. Substitute Igor Lebedenko and Bilyaletdinov then both failed to find the target in a late goalmouth scramble, allowing Denmark to come away with a valuable victory.