Denmark stays top with qualifying win over Greece
Denmark beat Greece 3-1 at home to keep its unbeaten FIFA World Cup qualification campaign on track and end the visitors' hopes of reaching next year's tournament, with the battle for UEFA's Group C supremacy set to go down to the wire.
With two matches still to play, Denmark tops the standings with 10 points, ahead of Scotland on goal difference.
The two sides meet in their final fixture next month with the group winner earning automatic qualification for the tournament finals and the runner-up going into the play-offs.
Both Denmark and Scotland are guaranteed at least a play-off spot but Greece, which sits third with three points, has no hope of progressing.
Greece controlled possession early in the game, but in the 21st minute Rasmus Hojlund capitalised on a glaring mistake by Greek midfielder Christos Zafeiris, who tried to pass back to his goalkeeper but left the ball short, allowing the Napoli striker to score with a tap-in.
Joachim Andersen doubled the lead, heading in a Mikkel Damsgaard corner in the 40th minute, and one minute later, another defensive error by Greece let Damsgaard finish into an empty net with a first-time strike.
Denmark took its foot off the gas after the break and Greece pulled one back in the 63rd minute as Christos Tzolis fired a powerful shot over goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel on a counter-attack, the first goal Denmark had conceded in its qualifying campaign.
Despite coming close to a second, Greece was unable to break down the hosts' defence, with Schmeichel making a brilliant save to deny substitute Giannis Konstantelias before Andersen cleared Pavlidis's effort off the line.
"Overall, I don't think we played our best game today," Denmark midfielder Morten Hjulmand said.
"[The win is] the most important thing. It's the three points. Sometimes you don't reach the top level. I don't think we did that today, but we won 3-1 against a strong team."
