Slovenia score late to earn draw against Denmark in Group C opener
Denmark also shared a qualifying group with Slovenia, so their psychological advantage was a very topical one. This was reflected in an opening 15 minutes that was largely played around Jan Oblak’s box, and Denmark soon got their breakthrough.
A quick throw into the box was flicked on by Jonas Wind’s backheel, with Christian Eriksen chesting the ball down before firing low past Oblak to give his side a deserved lead.
Eriksen was nearly the provider of a second, as his low driven cross ricocheted off two defenders and went narrowly wide of the goal. Matjaz Kek’s men did have a few flurries into the opposition half, but their counter-attacks did very little to challenge Denmark’s backline prior to the interval.
And Denmark initially picked up where they left off in the second half, as they continued to control the possession and tempo of the game.
Slovenia did cause some problems in the box, with two long throws early in the half causing problems for Kasper Hjulmand’s side, as the Danish defence struggled to clear their lines convincingly.
The Danes almost doubled their lead when Victor Kristiansen broke down the left wing and played a low ball onto the edge of the six-yard-box, with Rasmus Hojlund looking almost certain to score, but Oblak quickly got down and denied the young striker from point-blank range to keep Slovenia in the game.
Straight after that, Adam Gnezda Cerin had the chance to bring his side level with a header in the middle of the box, but he couldn’t guide the chance on target, as it went just past the right-hand side of Kasper Schmeichel’s goal.
But just as the Danes were counting their blessings, the Balkan underdogs got their goal through Erik Janza, as his first time effort from outside the box took a deflection off Morten Hjulmand and flew past the helpless Schmeichel.
That goal flipped the game on its head, as Slovenia pursued a winner in the closing stages of the game, but despite their best efforts, they had to settle for a draw.
Meanwhile, Denmark will be frustrated to drop the two points, as they had plenty of chances to kill off the game prior to the equaliser.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Christian Eriksen (Denmark)
