Denmark make light work of Northern Ireland
Monday, September 10, 2012
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Denmark 3-0 Northern Ireland
Morten Wieghorst's men finished second behind Serbia in qualifying Group 4 thanks to a comfortable victory, with all the goals coming in the first half.
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Denmark made sure of second place in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 4 with a comfortable victory against Northern Ireland.
Going into the match with hope of pipping Serbia to top spot in Group 4, the 2011 finals hosts had sewn up the points by half-time thanks to goals from Emil Larsen, captain Mads Albæk and Andreas Laudrup.
Serbia, however, defeated the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 5-1 and head into Friday's play-off draw as section winners, with the four best runners-up also in the hat.
Larsen opened the scoring with a composed left-foot shot after being picked out by Mikkel Kirkeskov's low cross. The lead was doubled from the penalty spot just before the half-hour mark, Albæk doing the necessary following Josh Magennis's foul on Laudrup.
Laudrup completed the scoring with the last kick of the first half, beating Ross Glendinning with a wonderful curling shot. Denmark coach Morten Wieghorst said: "Our campaign has been good. We're undefeated with four wins and four draws. Thankfully we got a bit of help today from a couple of other teams, but I'm happy with the overall campaign."