One big plus to come from this is renewed optimism for next year’s play-offs.

Recent dire performances against Switzerland and Georgia had removed a lot of confidence, but this showing was something else.

Sadly their play-off is likely to be away from home and away from their magnificent fans, who cheered their team all the way throughout the game.

The Republic end with only seven goals from eight games – Doherty’s was the fourth header of the campaign.

But if they had played like this before, it would have been a different story entirely.

Man of the match – David McGoldrick (Republic of Ireland)

David McGoldrick
David McGoldrick’s hold-up and link-up play gave the Irish the opportunity to attack – he was involved in most of their first-half chances

Unbeaten Danes go through – the stats

  • Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last six meetings with Denmark (D5 L1), drawing each of the last four.
  • Denmark remain the only undefeated side in Group D (P8 W4 D4 L0) and haven’t lost any of their last 17 European/World Cup qualifying matches (W10 D7).
  • The first shot of the game came on 26 minutes, courtesy of an effort from Christian Eriksen, the longest wait for the opening attempt in any Euro 2020 qualifying game so far.
  • All seven of the Republic of Ireland’s goals in the Euro 2020 qualifiers have come via different players (incl. one own-goal).
  • Martin Braithwaite has scored in three consecutive international matches for Denmark after netting just one goal in total in his eight before that.
  • Matt Doherty’s equaliser for Republic of Ireland was the first goal Denmark conceded in 600 minutes of action, ending Kasper Schmeichel’s run of five consecutive clean sheets for his country.

Line-ups

R. of Ireland

  • 23Randolph
  • 2Doherty
  • 4Duffy
  • 5EganSubstituted forClarkat 45′minutes
  • 3Stevens
  • 6WhelanBooked at 55minsSubstituted forMaguireat 82′minutes
  • 14HourihaneSubstituted forRobinsonat 68′minutes
  • 8Browne
  • 13Hendrick
  • 11McCleanBooked at 78mins
  • 9McGoldrick

Substitutes

  • 1O’Hara
  • 7Maguire
  • 10Brady
  • 12Robinson
  • 15Long
  • 16Travers
  • 17Clark
  • 18Byrne
  • 19Judge
  • 20Cullen
  • 21Parrott
  • 22Collins

Denmark

  • 1SchmeichelBooked at 90mins
  • 14Dalsgaard
  • 4Kjaer
  • 13M Jorgensen
  • 17Stryger Larsen
  • 8DelaneySubstituted forHøjbjergat 13′minutes
  • 19SchöneBooked at 33minsSubstituted forChristensenat 84′minutes
  • 20Poulsen
  • 11Braithwaite
  • 10Eriksen
  • 21CorneliusSubstituted forDolbergat 33′minutes

Substitutes

  • 2Ankersen
  • 3Andersen
  • 5Knudsen
  • 6Christensen
  • 7Skov
  • 9Gytkjær
  • 12Dolberg
  • 15Nørgaard
  • 16Hansen
  • 18Wass
  • 22Rönnow
  • 23Højbjerg
Referee:Dr. Felix Brych

Match Stats

Home TeamR. of IrelandAway TeamDenmark
Possession
Home52%
Away48%
Shots
Home15
Away3
Shots on Target
Home3
Away2
Corners
Home8
Away3
Fouls
Home9
Away10

Live Text

Match ends, Republic of Ireland 1, Denmark 1.

Full Time

Second Half ends, Republic of Ireland 1, Denmark 1.

Attempt missed. Alan Browne (Republic of Ireland) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.

Booking

Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark) is shown the yellow card.

Attempt missed. Enda Stevens (Republic of Ireland) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is high and wide to the right.

Attempt blocked. James McClean (Republic of Ireland) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

Attempt missed. Ciaran Clark (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jeff Hendrick with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Republic of Ireland. Conceded by Zanka.

Attempt blocked. Sean Maguire (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by David McGoldrick with a cross.

Attempt saved. Christian Eriksen (Denmark) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Yussuf Poulsen.

Goal!

Goal! Republic of Ireland 1, Denmark 1. Matt Doherty (Republic of Ireland) header from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Enda Stevens with a cross.

Substitution

Substitution, Denmark. Andreas Christensen replaces Lasse Schöne.

Attempt saved. James McClean (Republic of Ireland) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Enda Stevens.

Attempt blocked. James McClean (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jeff Hendrick with a cross.

Substitution

Substitution, Republic of Ireland. Sean Maguire replaces Glenn Whelan.

Corner, Republic of Ireland. Conceded by Zanka.

Attempt blocked. David McGoldrick (Republic of Ireland) with an attempt from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Callum Robinson with a cross.

Corner, Republic of Ireland. Conceded by Henrik Dalsgaard.

Booking

James McClean (Republic of Ireland) is shown the yellow card.

Martin Braithwaite (Denmark) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by James McClean (Republic of Ireland).

Henrik Dalsgaard (Denmark) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by David McGoldrick (Republic of Ireland).

Goal!

Goal! Republic of Ireland 0, Denmark 1. Martin Braithwaite (Denmark) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Henrik Dalsgaard with a cross.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Denmark) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by James McClean (Republic of Ireland).

Substitution

Substitution, Republic of Ireland. Callum Robinson replaces Conor Hourihane.

Attempt missed. David McGoldrick (Republic of Ireland) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.

Corner, Republic of Ireland. Conceded by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

Foul by Simon Kjaer (Denmark).

Jeff Hendrick (Republic of Ireland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Kasper Dolberg (Denmark).

Conor Hourihane (Republic of Ireland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Attempt missed. Ciaran Clark (Republic of Ireland) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Conor Hourihane with a cross following a corner.

Corner, Republic of Ireland. Conceded by Zanka.

Offside, Republic of Ireland. David McGoldrick tries a through ball, but Jeff Hendrick is caught offside.

Booking

Glenn Whelan (Republic of Ireland) is shown the yellow card.

Jens Stryger Larsen (Denmark) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Foul by Glenn Whelan (Republic of Ireland).

Foul by Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark).