Denmark vs Australia, Live Score, FIFA World Cup 2018: Teams Look to Break Deadlock in Second Half

Andrew Nabbout tries to brace himself as he falls to the ground and suffers a painful looking shoulder injury. The forward is clearly in some pain, thus Bert Van Marwijk elects to remove him while he receives medical treatment. Tomi Juric comes on for the forward to finish out this match.

Glorious Chance: What a chance for Australia after Kasper Schmeichel comes out of his net and mishits a punch! The ball fell to Mathew Leckie who had no angle at the open net, so he instead decided to swing the ball to the far post hoping to find a teammate. Robbie Kruse is there, but Henrik Dalsgaard reaches the ball first and blasts a high clearance out of bounds for a corner kick.

Chance: Demark now have a glorious shot of their own as Sisto came agonisingly close to scoring a goal from outside of the box. However, his curling effort just went past the far post. 

Chace: What a shot that from Mooy from the edge of the box and it had the keeper in trouble for a bit. Mooy hit a thundering shot and it just whizzed past the top corner. The game remains locked at 1-1 and 70 minutes have been played now.

Tom Rogic executes an artistic spin at the halfway line that sheds him of his marker! The Celtic man tries to place a pass into the path of an open Mathew Leckie, but the ball is mistimed slightly which allows the Danish defense a moment to regroup and intercept the danger.

A corner kick is delivered to the far side of the area by Christian Eriksen and is then redistributed into the middle of the danger area by Lasse Schone. The headed pass hangs in the air for a long time to scare the Australian fans, though their defense is capable as the Socceroos nod the ball out of the box to deny any further opportunities.

The most of the play is now being played in the Danish half now with the Australia players combining well in the final third. This time, Risdon's bad cross wasted the chance in an otherwise brilliant build up play. 10 minutes into the second half and we are still locked at 1-1.

Denmark continues to float long balls over the top looking to connect with Nicolai Jorgensen in the area, however this strategy seems to be going nowhere so far this match. This time Simon Kjaer tries this idea, but it is easily dealt with by the rigid Socceroo back line.

The second half gets underway in Samara with Australia now attacking from left to right. Neither Age Hareide or Bert Van Marwijk elected to make any changes at the break meaning we will continue on with the same 22 players that began the match.

Key stats:

👉 There have now been more penalties (11) at the 2018 #WorldCup than in the entire group phase in 2014 (10)

👉 @Socceroos' penalty was the fifth that was awarded after consulting VAR at the 2018 #WorldCup #DENAUS pic.twitter.com/ASngn4eiv8

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2018

The players are back onto the pitch and we are about to get underway in Samara. The teams will look to score early and break this deadlock. Both teams are evenly matched as we saw in the first half.

A decent half of football in Samara! #DENAUS pic.twitter.com/C9LxuFAszp

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2018

Half-time: That is the half-time whistle folks and the players make their way back inside their respective dressing rooms. Following an electric start by Denmark, Australia came back strongly into the match and leveled it as well. It has been a great half of football so far and fans will be expecting more of the same in the next 45. 

Christian Eriksen rockets in a cross off of a free kick that navigates its way through a mess of legs to the far post only to be met by Trent Sainsbury. The Aussie is obviously caught off guard, accidentally sending the ball toward his own goal, but Mathew Ryan reads the situation perfectly and makes a goal line save to prevent an own goal.

VAR: Penalty Review
Penalty confirmed by VAR.
Reason: There was a foul.

Mile Jedinak scores his second penalty of the #WorldCup to bring @Socceroos level!#DENAUS 1-1 pic.twitter.com/wYe2NThUPn

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2018

GOLAZO: Mile Jedinak converts from the penalty spot as he sends the keeper the wrong way and it is all square between the two teams once again. One can argue all day as to how the penalty was given but once cannot argue the fact that the Aussies didn'r deserve this goal.

VAR: Ausrtralia have been awarded a penalty in the 37th minute of the match after a header hit Poulsen in the hand inside the D. Poulsen has also been booked by the referee and that means that he will miss Denmark's next group game. 

Big Chance: Leckie once again with a magnificent play down the right wing and he sent a beautiful low cross inside. However, Kruse couldn't make a proper contact with the ball after trapping it and his shot hit a defender. 30 mins played and Denmark still lead. 

Since going behind in the match, Australia have looked the more dangerous side. This time Leckie bombarded forward and sent in a dangerous cross, however, the ball deflected after hitting a defenders and landed at the far post where no other Aussie player was there. 

Tom Rogic threads a pass through the opposing back line that sends both Aziz Behich and Robbie Kruse into the area to chase it down. The pass appears perfectly weighted, but Simon Kjaer is able to intervene and clear it off of Kruse and out for a goal kick. 20 minutes have been played and Denmark still lead 1-0

Danske fans på plads i Samara 🇩🇰#ForDanmark #WorldCup #DENAUS #DEN pic.twitter.com/ylFgO4jSE7

— Fodboldlandsholdene (@dbulandshold) June 21, 2018

Australia's third corner kick of the match results in another shot for the Socceroos. This time it is Mathew Leckie who rises above the tangle of bodies to attempt a header, however the shot is completely mishit as it goes well high and wide of the intended target.

Australia seem to have been woken up after that early goal and now they are matching Denmark as far as possession in the middle of the park is concerned. Tackles have also started to fly in as the game is sparked into life by that stunning goal.

Nicolai Jorgensen received the ball at the top of the box and deftly played a flicked pass with the outside of his foot into the path of Christian Eriksen. Eriksen lowered his shoulder and fizzed a volley with his left foot into the upper corner of the net! What an absolute beauty!

ERIKSEN!

A rocket of a strike from @ChrisEriksen8 gives #DEN an early lead! #DENAUS pic.twitter.com/GocaZbiWka

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 21, 2018

GOLAZO: Christian Erisksen provides Denmark the perfect start as he scores the opener in the seventh minute of the game. Jorgensen passed the ball to Eriksen inside the D and the Spurs star hit the perfect volley to beat the keeper. 

Early Chance: Denmark have started the match on the front foot and they even won a corner as early as in the second minute of the match. After a short corner, Delaney tried to guide the ball inside the net with his head but it went past the post. 

The home stadium of Russian Premier League team Krylia Sovetov Samara plays host to this contest as well as four future 2018 World Cup games. The field's capacity is capped out at approximately 45,000 spectators and it was designed to resemble a flying saucer or spaceship to pay homage to Samara's involvement in the Russian space program.

Despite having several attacking options at his disposal, including veteran Tim Cahill and 19-year-old starlet Daniel Arzani, Van Marwijk has stuck with the same side that asked questions of France in the defeat in Kazan sealed by a late Aziz Behich own goal from a Paul Pogba strike. Schmeichel, the son of former Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, is expected to be key to their hopes of a second straight win as the Aussies look to build on a solid defensive display against France by being more creative and, ultimately, scoring crucial goals.

Denmark (4-3-3)

Kasper Schmeichel; Henrik Dalsgaard, Simon Kjaer (capt), Andreas Christensen, Jens Stryger Larsen; Thomas Delaney, Lasse Schoene, Christian Eriksen; Yussuf Poulsen, Nicolai Joergensen, Pione Sisto

Coach: Age Hareide (NOR)

Australia (4-2-3-1)

Mathew Ryan; Josh Risdon, Trent Sainsbury, Mark Milligan, Aziz Behich; Mile Jedinak (capt), Aaron Mooy; Mathew Leckie, Tom Rogic, Robbie Kruse; Andrew Nabbout

Coach: Bert van Marwijk (NED)