Denmark stifle Serbia to earn point and progress to quarters
Needing all three points to snatch a place in the knockout stages from their visitors, Serbia made the brighter start.
Dusan Vlahovic carried the ball 40 yards before his curling effort was beaten away by Kasper Schmeichel before the Danish stopper had to be alert to deny Andrija Zivkovic from close range in the eighth minute.
Five minutes later, the goalkeeper was rooted to the spot when Aleksandar Mitrovic took aim, but could breathe a sigh of relief when the strike went a whisker wide.
Strahinja Pavlovic and Mitrovic chances came and went as the one-way traffic continued. Yet, despite all their pressure, the Orlovi twice came within inches of going behind before the 30-minute mark.
First, a Mikkel Damsgaard shot following a free-kick went through the gloves of Dorde Petrovic and was cleared off the line by a spectacular overhead kick from Mitrovic, before the goalkeeper atoned with a fingertip save at full stretch to deny Yussuf Poulsen.
The home side were soon back on top, but Mitrovic’s attacking contribution was still not as clinical as his defensive work, as he headed over late in the half from six yards.
Looking to extend their unbeaten home run to five matches, Serbia produced the first effort on target after half-time just beyond the hour mark, as Vlahovic took aim from 25 yards and only a world-class Schmeichel save prevented the ball flying into the top corner.
Denmark had not won on foreign soil for 11 months, and a Christian Eriksen strike bobbling wide was the closest the visitors came to changing that as they struggled for firepower.
Dragan Stojkovic’s side could have played all night and never broken the deadlock, as Mitrovic sent another close-range header wide and a thumping Vlahovic strike flew just over late on.
Despite facing over 20 attempts, Denmark held on for their first point under new manager Brian Riemer, leaving Serbia still without a win over the visitors in six meetings as an independent nation and condemning them to a relegation play-off in the Nations League - with a night of frustration for the hosts capped off by a late red card for Pavlovic.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dusan Vlahovic (Serbia)
