Eriksen punishes Wales as Danish stars return

Christian Eriksen scored twice in a 2-0 victory over Wales in the Nations League yesterday as Denmark’s first-team players returned after boycotting a midweek friendly over a contract dispute. The Tottenham midfielder put the Danes ahead with just over half an hour gone in Aarhus, and Eriksen added a second on 63 minutes from the penalty spot after Ethan Ampadu handled in the area.Age Hareide’s Denmark go top of a group that also includes the Republic of Ireland, who were routed 4-1 by Wales in their opening game on Thursday. Danish preparations were hit by a standoff between their players’ union and the country’s football association (DBU) over commercial rights.The issue led to Denmark fielding a team comprised of lower-league and futsal players in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Slovakia, but both sides reached a one-match truce to ensure a full-strength squad would face Wales.Ryan Giggs’ men suffered a hitch of their own when a technical problem with their plane severely delayed their arrival in Denmark, and forced the cancellation of a pre-match press conference. Thomas Delaney almost produced a sensational opening goal midway through the first half when the Borussia Dortmund midfielder’s superb volley from a corner whistled fractionally wide of the post.Gareth Bale, on target in the win over the Irish in Cardiff, then drove just beyond Kasper Schmeichel’s left-hand post after the Real Madrid star was given space to run at centre-back Simon Kjaer. Eriksen broke the deadlock with a well-taken effort on 32 minutes, picking up a pass from Henrik Dalsgaard and taking a touch to set himself before stroking low beyond the outstretched arm of Wayne Hennessey.The Crystal Palace goalkeeper pulled off a marvellous flying stop to deny Pione Sisto soon after, Hennessey launching himself to his left to claw behind a vicious half-volley. Connor Roberts and Aaron Ramsey saw efforts blocked in the Danish area after the ball pinged off several players, while Martin Braithwaite dragged an effort wide after evading a host of Welsh challenges.Eriksen effectively ended Wales’ hopes of earning anything from their trip to Scandinavia when he blasted home from the spot after Ampadu handled Viktor Fischer’s cross. A deflected Bale strike nearly gave the visitors a lifeline in the closing stages but a scrambling Schmeichel turned behind, with only a reflex save from Hennessey preventing Delaney from increasing the damage for Denmark.Earlier, Andriy Yarmolenko’s penalty earned Ukraine a narrow 1-0 win over Slovakia for their second win in four days. Ukraine top League B Group 1 after beating Czech Republic on Thursday and seeing off Slovakia in Lviv, putting themselves in a commanding position for promotion to the top tier.A tight match was decided when Milan Skriniar tripped Viktor Tsygankov in the area to concede a penalty in the 80th minute. West Ham midfielder Yarmolenko beat Martin Dubravka, who got a hand to his effort, from the spot for his seventh goal in Ukraine’s last nine competitive home matches.In Group C3 Radoslav Vasilev’s 59th minute goal helped Bulgaria see off Norway 1-0, with the visitors seeing Havard Nordveit sent off on a disappointing afternoon. Georgia beat Latvia 1-0 in Group D1 while Macedonia eased past Armenia 2-0 to move top of Group D4 with two wins from two games.On Saturday, Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri was among the scorers as Switzerland routed Iceland 6-0 in their opening game. Steven Zuber and Denis Zakaria gave Switzerland a two-goal lead before Shaqiri fired in a free-kick from a tight angle out on the right on 53 minutes.Goals from Haris Seferovic, Albian Ajeti and Admir Mehmedi completed the resounding win as Switzerland made a dream start to a group that also includes World Cup semi-finalists Belgium. Iceland host Italy in Reykjavik tomorrow, while Switzerland play England in a friendly in Leicester.Results from the second round of matchesLeague B: Group 1: At Lviv Ukraine 1 (Yarmolenko 80-pen) Slovakia 0Group 4: At Aarhus, Denmark: Denmark 2 (Eriksen 32, 63-pen) Wales 0League C: Group 3: At Sofia: Bulgaria 1 (Vasilev 58) Norway 0League D: Group 1: At Tbilisi: Georgia 1 (Okriashvili 77-pen) Latvia 0; Group 4: At Skopje: Macedonia 2 (Alioski 14-pen, Pandev 59) Armenia 0; At Vaduz: Liechtenstein v Gibraltar (1845 GMT)