Danes dismantle seven-man Russia

Denmark reached the finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship for the first time since 1992 in comprehensive fashion with a 3-1 victory against a Russia side who finished the match at the Brøndby stadium with seven players on the pitch.

Early shock
Leading 1-0 from Saturday's first match, the Danes were supported by 11, 216 spectators in the suburbs of Copenhagen, but that sizeable crowd was shocked into silence as early as the second minute when the visitors drew level on aggregate. Alexandr Samedov's close-range effort was saved by Danish goalkeeper Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard, but the ball fell perfectly for Yuri Zhirkov, who made no mistake.

Rasmussen response
Russia's lead on the night lasted only six minutes, however, as the Danes quickly regained the upper hand in the tie. Left-back Martin Pedersen broke through on the left before picking out Thomas Kahlenberg with his cross, and from the forward's unselfish lay-off Morten Rasmussen levelled from in front of goal. Eight minutes later the home team were in front, with Kahlenberg again at the heart of the move. The AJ Auxerre forward picked out Kasper Lorentzen with a beautiful crossfield pass, and the ball was quickly and perfectly worked to the overlapping Martin Bergvold, whose low left-foot effort duly found the far corner.

Kahlenberg composure
Both sides had further presentable opportunities either side of half-time, although the Russians, now needing to score twice to stay in the competition, never managed to put their opponents under sustained pressure. Instead the tie was effectively decided 16 minutes into the second half as Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev fouled Leon Andreasen inside the penalty area and Kahlenberg coolly converted the resulting spot-kick.

Four red cards
The Danish striker might have scored his second and Denmark's fourth but his 75th-minute effort was kept out by the post. With their hopes of reaching next year's finals in tatters, the visitors lost their discipline in the closing stages with Zhirkov, Vladimir Bystrov, Sergei Chernogaev and Aleksandr Bukharov all collecting red cards in the final eight minutes - while unused substitute Aleksandr Samedov was also sent off from the bench - as the match came to a fractious ending, although that will matter little to the home team.