England have been left with a huge mountain to climb after squandering an opportunity to go clear in their UEFA Nations League group following Wednesday's defeat to Denmark. The Three Lions were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline in an encounter in which they had Harry Maguire and Reece James sent off.
Gareth Southgate's men approached the game on the back of a comeback win over Belgium but were forced to cope with a man down just 31 minutes into the clash with the Danes. The frustrating night started with Maguire picking up his first yellow card in the fifth minute for a lunging challenge on Yussuf Poulsen. Barely 26 minutes later, the Manchester United skipper was sent off for another clumsy tackle on Kasper Dolberg.
3 - The England men's team have received three red cards in a single calendar year for the first time ever. Indiscipline.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 14, 2020
Shortly after the centre back's exit, a controversial penalty decision went in favor of Denmark after Kyle Walker had supposedly fouled Thomas Delaney in the box. His former teammate Christian Eriksen subsequently stepped up to fire the visitors ahead in what was his 100th cap.
Despite being a man down, another fight back looked certain for England but for a series of top defending coupled with Kasper Schmeichel's remarkable saves. In the end, the Three Lions conceded their first-ever defeat to Denmark and their third home loss in their last 50 competitive internationals on home soil.
Reece James was shown a red card after the full-time whistle as England lost to Denmark in the #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/D9RTpZlMNZ
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 14, 2020
Meanwhile, the drama in Wednesday night's clash lasted beyond the full 90 minutes as debutant Reece James ended his spell by picking up a red card for dissent. At the moment, England's hopes of winning their group hangs on a thin line and they will be required to avoid defeat when they travel to Belgium in their next Nations League clash to stand a chance of finishing as table-toppers. They now sit third with seven points after four outings while the Red Devils lead the pack with nine points following their 2-1 away win over Iceland.
