Christian Eriksen inspired Denmark became the latest country to book their place in next summer’s world cup after an emphatic 5-1 demolition of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Eriksen had been expertly caged in the first leg by Martin O’Neill’s men.
Ireland were bidding to reach their first world cup since 2002, and got off to a flying start when Shane Duffy headed them ahead in the sixth minute.
However, Chelsea youngster, Andreas Christensen, equalised for the Danes 23minutes later before Ireland’s Stephen Ward’s sloppiness in possession was punished by Eriksen, who doubled his side’s advantage three minutes later.
Denmark went go into the break with a 2-1 lead, and had a foot in Russia.
After the break, O’Neill tried to change his side’s situation by sending in the duo of Wes Hoolahan and Aiden McGeady. But the initiative was with the away side now, as Ireland became even more open at the back.
It wasn’t long before Eriksen scored again, as he made it 3-1 just after the hour mark. Ten minutes later, the Tottenham playmaker completed his hat-trick, scoring Denmark’s fourth of the night, to ultimately extinguish whatever hope Ireland had.
Eriksen’s third of the night was courtesy of another error by Ward, but that wasn’t the last action of the night as former Arsenal forward, Nicklas Bendtner, got on the act.
Bendtner scored from the spot, following a Duffy foul in the box to complete the rout, sealing Denmark’s fifth appearance at the world cup, and their first since 2010 in style.
It was a solid night for Eriksen, who took home the night’s match ball, and finished as Denmark’s top scorer in the qualifiers on 11 goals in 12 games.
