Southampton: Hojbjerg scores in Denmark friendly draw with Kosovo
By Marc Walker
Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg netted a late equaliser for Denmark in their 2-2 friendly draw with Kosovo yesterday evening.
The 23-year-old’s 90th minute strike rescued a positive result for the away side and they head to Switzerland for their opening European Championship Qualifier on Tuesday.
Hojbjerg was one of just six players to play the full 90 minutes for Denmark and his goal was superbly taken despite it coming about in fairly unusual circumstances.
After attempting a chipped pass forward, he chased down the loose ball and found a teammate on the edge of the box.
As the Saints man then continued his run into the area, the ball was returned to him over the defence and he controlled well before sliding a left-footed strike into the far corner.
Next. Mixed Euro qualifier results for Armstrong and Bednarek. dark
This season has really seen Hojbjerg take a huge step forward in his development with Saints and he has impressed enough to get back into the Denmark starting 11.
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The current Saints captain seems to have taken the form that he has shown in the Premier League into his international games now too.
Goalkeeper Angus Gunn was also international action last night as he played the full 90 minutes of England Under-21s 1-1 draw with Poland in Bristol.
Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring in the 13th minute, but Gunn would concede when he was beaten by a superb goal.
Sebastian Szymanski lined up a free-kick that looked too far out to shoot from, but he found the top corner with a perfect, curling effort that left the England keeper with no chance.
Gunn will hope to be involved again on Tuesday when England travel away to play a friendly in Germany.
He has had to wait for his chance with Saints this season after joining from Manchester City in the summer but he now looks to be Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first-choice between the sticks.
With the need for consistency in defence to get some vital results in the final eight league games of the campaign, it will be important that he keeps up his recent high standards in the long-term.