Nations League: Denmark stun England; France, Portugal win

 

Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire was shown a red card as England lost 1-0 at home to Denmark on Wednesday.

Maguire was sent off in the first half at Wembley for two clumsy yellow cards, and Christian Eriksen then converted a 35th-minute penalty on the occasion of his 100th cap to put the Danes ahead.

They held on to inflict a first home defeat on England in two years, with the hosts also having young Chelsea full-back Reece James sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

England got to the four-team finals of the inaugural Nations League last year but their chances of getting there again this time are very much in the balance with Belgium two points ahead of Southgate’s team and the Danes atop League A, Group 2.

Belgium won 2-1 in Iceland on Wednesday with Romelu Lukaku scoring twice. They host England in Brussels on 15 November.

In Zagreb, Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe missed an open goal early on but got the winner in the 79th minute as France beat Croatia 2-1 in their latest re-run of the 2018 World Cup final.

Antoine Griezmann had put France ahead with Nikola Vlasic equalising in the second half for Croatia before around 7 000 fans.

Les Bleus have still never lost to Croatia and are level with Portugal on 10 points at the top of League A, Group 3.

Portugal, winners of the inaugural Nations League, shrugged off the absence of Ronaldo because of a positive Covid-19 test as they beat Sweden 3-0 in Lisbon.

Liverpool’s Diogo Jota set up Bernardo Silva for the opener then scored two of his own, one either side of halftime.

Meanwhile, the prolific Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Poland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in Warsaw. Karol Linetty got the other goal and Poland are top of Group A, a point above Italy and two ahead of the Netherlands.

The Dutch came from behind to draw 1-1 with Italy in Bergamo, with Donny van de Beek netting for Frank de Boer’s side after Lorenzo Pellegrini put Italy ahead.