Denmark dump England, Portugal win without Ronaldo, Italy pay tribute in Bergamo

October 15 – Christian Eriksen’s penalty on his 100th appearance for Denmark earned his side a 1-0 upset win over England in their Nations League clash at Wembley on Wednesday as the hosts ended up with nine men.

Eriksen converted shortly after England defender Harry Maguire, whose season is going from bad to worse on and off the field,  received a red card for a second booking.

The result ended a run of nine successive home wins for England, who beat top-ranked Belgium on Sunday. By contrast Denmark celebrated their first victory over England at Wembley since 1983.

To make matters worse for England, Reece James, on his full debut, was also shown a red card after the final whistle for confronting referee Jesus Gil Manzano.

England slipped to third place in Group A2 which is now headed by Belgium with Denmark above England on goal difference.

Elsewhere goals from Bernardo Silva and a brace from Diogo Jota gave Portugal, minus coronavirus victim Cristiano Ronaldo, a comfortable 3-0 win over Sweden.

With 10 points from four games, Portugal top Group 2 in League A on goal difference ahead of France, who beat Croatia 2-1 in Zagreb. The Swedes are bottom of the group after slumping to four straight defeats.

For the first time in 14 years, Italy played a game in Bergamo – one of cities hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. Before the game against the Netherlands, a delegation from the federations of the two teams laid two wreaths at a cemetery in the city in tribute to the victims.

Italy extended their unbeaten run to 19 games with a 1-1 draw, the result allowing Poland, a 3-0 winner over Bosnia and Herzegovina, to climb atop Group 1.

Scotland closed in on promotion to the top tier of the Nations League after winning their top-of-the-table clash with the Czech Republic in League B and cap a successful week after reaching the Euro 2020 playoff finals.

An early Ryan Fraser goal was enough to edge the Scots past their nearest rivals and open up a four-point lead at the top of Group 2, with a single point still separating the top sides in Groups 3 and 4, and Austria and Norway neck and neck in Group 1.

Finland stayed one point behind leaders Wales in Group 4 after beating the Republic of Ireland while Jonny Williams struck late as Wales won 1-0 in Bulgaria.

Second-half strikes also put Austria and Norway in control of Group 1 with an own goal from Northern Ireland’s Stuart Dallas handing Norway a 1-0 win, the same scoreline by which Austria won by in Romania.

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