Denmark 1-1 Australia: Eriksen screamer & VAR penalty in Samara draw

15:20 · THU June 21, 2018

A Christian Eriksen beauty was cancelled out by a VAR-assisted penalty as Denmark and Australia played out a 1-1 draw in Samara.

World Cup Group standings

Eriksen lashed in a wonderful opening goal for the Danes after just seven minutes after a cleve knockdown from Nicolai Jorgensen.

Denmark continued to be in the ascendency but Australia got back into the contest on 38 minutes when they were awarded a controversial penalty for handball against Yussuf Poulsen.

Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz initially waved away Australia's appeals, but was buzzed by the VAR room in Moscow and went to take a second look on the pitchside cameras.

Despite Yussuf not looking at the ball when challenging for a header, the referee decided to award the penalty - which was dispatched expertly by Mile Jedinak for his second goal of the tournament, both of them coming from the spot.

Australia were generally the better side in the second half as they offered much more attacking threat, with Kasper Schmeichel making a couple of good saves as both sides settled for a point in the end.

Denmark remain unbeaten at the top of Group C on four points, with Australia picking up their first point of the competition but still having a chance of going through.

The Socceroos are 4/1 to qualify ahead of their final group game against Peru, while Denmark are 9/2 to win the group and 2/7 to go through as they face France in their final outing.

VAR debate - penalty or not penalty?

GOAL! After a VAR review for a Poulsen handball is given, Jedinak cooly slots home the penalty to get Australia back on level terms pic.twitter.com/toWvQdWgJD
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 21, 2018

Christian Eriksen scores a beauty against Asutralia

GOAL! A clever reverse ball from Jorgensen in the 18-yard box finds Eriksen steaming in who meets the ball on the rise with his left foot and cannons it into the net pic.twitter.com/B59dPuOm9t
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 21, 2018

Opta Stats

This was the fourth time that Denmark and Australia have met each other, but the first time they’ve drawn (2 wins for Denmark, 1 for Australia).
Australia have failed to win any of their last five World Cup matches (D1 L4), their joint-longest winless run in the competition.
Australia have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 12 World Cup games, the longest current run in the competition alongside Saudi Arabia.
Mile Jedinak's penalty for Australia ended a run of nine hours and 31 minutes without conceding at international level for Denmark's goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (571 minutes).
31% of goals scored by Australia at the World Cup have come from the penalty spot (4 out of 13), the highest ratio among any of the teams to have scored at least 10 goals in the competition.
Christian Eriksen’s opener for Denmark (06:08) was their earliest goal at a World Cup since July 1998, when Martin Jørgensen (01:31) netted in the second minute against Brazil in the Quarter-Finals.
Denmark's Christian Eriksen has scored 17 goals in his last 20 appearances for the national side.
Denmark’s Yussuf Poulsen is the first player to concede two penalties in a single World Cup since Milan Dudic for Serbia in 2006.
Australia’s penalty against Denmark was the 11th awarded in this year’s group stages, one more than in the entire group stages at the last tournament in Brazil (10).
Australia defender Mark Milligan completed 85 passes in this match – the record for an Australian player in a single game at a World Cup tournament.