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In the first fixture to kick start the second round of matches in Group B, Austria U21 took on Denmark U21 at the Stadio Friuli with the Austrian team looking to continue their winning ways and Denmark desperate for a win after their opening loss to Germany U21.
Austria kicked off this exciting encounter with both sides wanting to win this match to be a step away from qualifying for the knockout stages.
The first five minutes both teams tried to keep possession with Austria having most of it with 80%. No real attacking threat were posed at either end though.
The first shot of the game came in the seventh minute. A good pass from Jonas Wind found Robert Skov but it was a weak shot by the latter which was saved Alexander Schlager.
In the 18th minute, Austria created their first real chance with the ball landing at the edge of the area. Sandro Ingolitsch struck the ball hard and low forcing Daniel Iversen to make a brilliant save to keep the shot out.
In the 22nd minute, Denmark had a corner with Skov taking it, he whipped the ball and forced a save from the Austrian goalkeeper.
In the 27th minute, Denmark had two great chances to go 1-0 up in this match. A lovely pass from Jacob Bruun -Larsen into Skov with the latter taking a shot that cannoned off the post with the follow up from Rasmus Nissen going over the bar.
A minute later, Denmark won a corner. Skov crossed the ball into the box with Phillip Billing heading the ball goal-wards. Luckily for Austria, Marko Kvasina was there to get the vital touch to divert the ball away from goal.
Denmark opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, after a very dominant 15 minutes from the Danes with Joakim Maehle opening the scoring for Denmark after he latched onto a pass and dinked the Austrian keeper.
In the 38th minute, Denmark carried on their attacks with Jens Stage who ran down the wing and pulled the ball for the goalscorer Maehle who had his shot blocked.
The referee blew his whistle for half-time. The Danes were ahead 1-0 against the Austrians and were the more dominant attacking force. Austria huffed anf puffed but were not being able to create anything even though they had more of the possession in the first-half.
What a start for the Austrians, in the 47th minute a brilliant cross from Sascha Horvath was connected by a wonderful header from the captain Philipp Lienhart who’s header went in between the Danish goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
A minute later, Austria were in the Danish half again with a free-kick with Marco Friedl’s free-kick going narrowly wide of the right post.
With Denmark trying to gain some stability, Larsen ran down the wing but his cross wasn’t met with a shot from any of his Danish team mates and was cleared away from danger by the Austrian defenders.
The first 15 minutes of the second-half, Denmark regained their stability even though they conceded an early goal with attempts from the Danes either blocked or intercepted by the Austrians.
Denmark thought they regained their lead in the 70th minute, a header from Wind found the running Larsen whose shot went goal-wards and in. However, the latter was offside and the goal was disallowed.
In the 73rd minute, Austria had a chance to go in the lead as a penalty was given for the Austrians. With Christoph Baumgartner taking the penalty which was saved by a diving Iversen who saved his side from going 2-1 down.
Lovely build up play from the Danes. Maehle led a counter-attack with Larsen receiving the pass from the Danish goalscorer as Larsen passed the ball to Maehle the ball was cleared with Wind shooting the ball wide of the goal.
Maehle regained his teams lead with a cross landing at his feet with the midfielder firing the ball goal-wards and scoring to get his second of the game in the 77th minute.
In added time, Andreas Skov Olsen scored a phenomenal goal as he struck it sweetly into the top corner and wrapping the win up for Denmark.
The full-time whistle blew and Denmark were the victors in a 3-1 win. Both team’s are now on three points and it is uncertain who will qualify for the semi-finals.
Team Line-ups
Denmark: Daniel Iversen; Asger Sørensen, Victor Nelsson, Jacob Rasmussen; Rasmus Nissen Kristensen (c), Jens Stage (Mathias Jensen 74′), Philip Billing, Joakim Maehle; Robert Skov (Andreas Skov Olsen 72′), Jacob Bruun Larsen (Mikkel Dueland 88′); Jonas Wind.
Austria: Alexander Schlager; Sandro Ingolitsch, Kevin Danso, Stefan Posch, Marco Friedl; Ivan Ljubic (Christoph Baumgartner 67′), Philipp Lienhart (c); Sascha Horvath, Xaver Schlager, Mathias Honsak (Adrian Grbic 82′); Marko Kvasina (Husein Balic 55′).
