Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench at halftime to help Denmark defeat Finland in an international match.
Denmark had to dig deep against Finland to earn a crucial 1-0 away victory and move to the top of the group.
The last time the two teams played, Denmark triumphed 3-1, with Rasmus Hojlund making his international debut with a hat-trick.
He was on the bench this time, as the Danish national coach was unsure whether he would be fit enough to play 90 minutes at high intensity.
Hojlund comes on at halftime
Finland took a defensive stance, content to contain Denmark and play for a draw. It would have meant that they would have remained above them in the group.
They deployed a five-man defense, which vexed Denmark for the majority of the game. Hojlund came on at halftime, and while he was well-contained and denied a goal attempt, he gave the Danes a more physical presence and commanded the defense’s attention.
With Denmark making little progress, manager Kasper Hjulmand substituted midfielder Jesper Lindstrom for striker Jonas Wind and brought on Hojlund to join the attack.
Hjulmand told Tipsbladet that he was pleased with how the improvements worked.
“There were many opportunities to do better in the first half,” he remarked. We had numerous possibilities to generate chances, but we lacked quality in the last pass. We switched positions slightly in the second half, which made us more threatening.
“We pushed until the end, and we had a plan in place just for this scenario.” In the end, we wanted to win, and we did. It’s really difficult to play against such a tight and tenacious defense.”
Denmark won the group after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the game-winning goal in the 86th minute.
Hojlund has a week off
Over the international break, Denmark has effectively handled Rasmus Hojlund’s minutes.
He played 32 minutes against San Marino and 45 minutes against Finland, totaling 77 minutes out of a possible 180.
He now gets a week off before facing Brighton in the Premier League for what may be his first start for Manchester United.
