Hojlund penalty sinks Wales as Denmark complete Nations League double

Wales suffered a Nations League defeat as Rasmus Hojlund’s 75th-minute penalty gave Denmark a 1-0 win. The result completed a double over Craig Bellamy’s side after Denmark’s 2-0 victory in Copenhagen last weekend.

The decisive moment came from a mistake by Danny Ward. The Wrexham goalkeeper gave the ball to Gustav Isaksen inside his own penalty area, then brought down the Denmark forward as he tried to close him down. Hojlund converted the resulting spot-kick.

Denmark create the clearer chances

Wales went into the match after beating Norway on Thursday. Bellamy made just one change to that starting side, bringing Brennan Johnson in for Daniel James, despite the short turnaround between fixtures.

Denmark were without Brentford playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard and lost skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to injury inside the opening 10 minutes. Wales had 54 per cent of first-half possession, but the visitors posed the greater attacking threat.

Ethan Ampadu shot over from 25 yards and Johnson volleyed wide at the far post. At the other end, Hojlund fired tamely at Ward after Ben Cabango was caught in possession. Morten Hjulmand headed wide, Isaksen missed with two attempts in quick succession, and Oliver Provstgaard sent a header over.

Ward saves before costly error

Denmark continued to find openings after the break. Ward stopped a sliding Hojlund’s effort with his legs after Andreas Skov Olsen crossed from the right, then pushed Isaksen’s header on to a post.

Wales had a chance when Johnson sent an angled attempt over, but Bellamy’s substitutions could not help his side seriously trouble the visitors. Ward’s error and Hojlund’s penalty then settled the contest.

Ben Davies told BBC Sport the manner of the defeat was difficult to accept, but praised his team-mates’ effort. “We gave it our all and I’m very proud of the group,” he said.

What comes next for Wales

Despite the loss, Wales moved up to third in Group A4 because Norway’s defeat in Portugal left them bottom on head-to-head results with Bellamy’s side.

Wales travel to Norway in November without Cabango, who collected his second yellow card of the competition and is ruled out of that match. Davies said the team would go into its next two games “with nothing to lose”.