Denmark pip unbeaten Serbia in Group 7

Denmark pipped Serbia to top spot in UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship first qualifying round Group 7 but the mini-tournament hosts have a good chance of joining Anders With Damgaard's side in the next stage.

After both sides won their first games, the top two faced off in their second and Denmark scraped a 2-2 draw with a last-gasp equaliser. That left them ahead on goal difference and that remained after the final games as Denmark beat Turkey 3-1 and Serbia saw off Greece 3-0, to give themselves a good chance of ending as one of the four runners-up with the best record against the teams first and third in their group who will join the ten section winners in the second qualifying round.

With Damgaard said: "I think that we achieved a great thing here in Serbia. We were first in the group and achieved our goal for this round. We were lucky against Serbia to score in added time, but I think that this result is a consequence of the strong attacking options that we have in our team. We played modern football. Very offensive, with fast wingers."

A 6-0 win against Greece in their opener proved invaluable for Denmark, Laura Jakobsen scoring a hat-trick and Sarah Hansen adding two before substitute Emilie Brøndum-Jensen's late goal. It was closer for Serbia who initially trailed Turkey then saw two leads slip away before substitute Tijana Djordjević sealed a 4-3 victory with her second goal five minutes from time immediately after Eda Duran's equaliser.

Hansen put Denmark ahead two days later against Serbia but Nevena Milivojević equalised just before half-time and Djordjević seemed to have claimed another late winner with seven minutes left only for Brøndum-Jensen to again come off the bench and strike at the death. That allowed Turkey to move into contention as Hilal Başkol and Kübra Aydin joined the list of goalscoring substitutes in a 2-0 defeat of Greece.

On the final day Brøndum-Jensen started and took only four minutes to score against Turkey and although Ebru Topçu equalised from the spot late in the half, Hansen restored Denmark's lead just before the interval and struck again late on to make it 3-1. Serbia would have needed a seven-goal win against Greece for automatic progress but after a scoreless first half sub Jelena Čanković, Djordjević and Aleksandra Lazarević at least ensured three points.

Serbia coach Goran Sretenović said: "We are very satisfied with this achievement. The only regret is the last-minute goal we conceded against Denmark because we were the better team in that match in my opinion. That cost us first place."