As it happened: Portugal 3-2 Denmark

FULL-TIME: What a match! What a match! This is what the Euros is all about… five goals in a thrilling encounter where both teams had good spells but the Portuguese dominance finally paid off with a strike late into the game. Ronaldo does not look happy. He knows they should not have left it so late, but that is football for you. Obviously the Danes will be unhappy with the scoreline after they clawed their way back to level but this result leaves the Group of Death wide open. GOAL!! Portugal 3-2 Denmark (86 minutes) Silvestre Varela was brought on to get something from the match and he does it with pomp! The ball falls to him in the box and he swivels to volley a stunning goal and break Danish hearts. GOAL!! Portugal 2-2 Denmark (80 minutes) Astonishing! After that miss, Ronaldo must surely be praying that Denmark don’t punish him for it. But a cross comes in from the right and Bendtner heads it in and off the post in style. 79 minutes: Ronaldo misses another great chance to score! Nani put him through one-on-one and the flag stayed down but the man who has scored so many times for his club misses in what is certainly the ‘miss of the match’. 73 minutes: Nelson Oliveira, who has come on for Postiga as Portugal’s striker has certainly injected some pace in Portugal’s central attacking role. Portugal’s chances have only come on the counter and Denmark had their own as Bendtner shot wide with his left foot. This game still looks pretty open. 65 minutes: Denmark’s tactics seem to be ‘pump ball into box’. Their wingers are easily beating the Portuguese full-back and crossing at every opportunity. A slight lapse of concentration and there could be an equaliser on the charts. [caption id=“attachment_342657” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Portugal are desperate for a win tonight. AFP”]  [/caption] 59 minutes: After Zimling, Denmark lose Rommehdahl to injury. Tobias Mikkelsen comes on to replace him. Meanwhile, Denmark are making some really bad defensive errors and gifting the ball to Portugal in dangerous areas. It won’t be long before they are punished. 50 minutes: If there’s one man you expect to score in a one-on-one situation, it’s Ronaldo. But the speedster who found acres of space cutting in from the left cannot beat the keeper’s low dive. He flays his arms around in dismay. Back up and running Lviv Half-time GOAL!! Portugal 2-1 Denmark (41 minutes) Denmark are not pushovers. A lovely ball from Rommehdahl falls to Krohn-Delhi on the left of the box. He dinks it back in over the keeper for Bendtner to finish in an empty net. Fine goal. GOAL!! Portugal 2-0 Denmark (36 minutes) Brilliantly set-up goal for Postiga. A Coentreao cross comes in from the left which is cleared but comes to Nani who finds the space to lay it on a plate for Postiga. A flick of his right boot later, Portugal are 2-0 up. 32 minutes: Portugal look more menacing now. Ronaldo tries to play Postiga in but the ball is just a bit too heavy for the striker’s run. The set-pieces are also coming thick and fast for them. GOAL!! Portugal 1-0 Denmark (24 minutes) Joao Moutinho fired in a corner from the left and Pepe ran towards the near post to glance in an unstoppable header. That goal almost identical to the one Andriy Shevchenko scored against Sweden. 17 minutes: Meireles finds a couple of yards but his shot is blocked and falls straight into the path of Ronaldo. The Real Madrid man can’t get his shot on target though. Should have done better. 15 minutes: Denmark have lost Zimling to an injury. Jacob Poulsen comes on for the unlucky midfielder. 8 minutes: Ronaldo cuts a sorry figure on the far left for Portugal and the shakes of the head really won’t help his teammates. A cross comes in from the right and it’s way over his head. Better service needed. Via Twitter: @Yogeshbond gives us a prediction: Portugal 1-0 Denmark 4 minutes: Three corners in a row for Denmark but nothing off it. Bright start for the Danes it must be said. KICK-OFF!! 9.25 pm: Just five minutes away from kick-off. Hope you’ve laid down your predictions for this one. 9.20 pm: So the one who was supposed to mark Ronaldo— Michael Silberbauer is on the bench as Denmark opt to play with the same eleven who beat the Dutch. 9.10 pm: Cristiano Ronaldo is seen taking a lot of free-kicks in practice. Anyone fancy him to smash one in tonight? Join in the discussion by tweeting to @FirstpostSports or @JournoPula. 9.00 pm: Welcome to live text coverage of Group B’s second round of matches. First up are Portugal and Denmark. Remember, if Portugal lose this one and Germany win against Netherlands in the next game, it will automatically eliminate Cristiano Ronaldo’s side. SQUADS Denmark: Andersen, Jacobsen, Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Simon Poulsen, Kvist Jorgensen, Niki Zimling, Dennis Rommedahl, Christian Eriksen, Krohn-Delhi, Nicklas Bendtner. Portugal: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Fabio Coentrao, Raul Meireles, Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Nani, Helder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo. MATCH-FACTS The only time these two have met in the Euros was in 1996, where they drew 1-1. Out of the last 12 games against Denmark, Portugal have lost just three and have won seven. In recent times though, Denmark have won three out of five meetings. Portugal have never been eliminated in the group stages of a European Championship.