Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen smashed a hat-trick as Denmark beat the Republic of Ireland 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Denmark are through to the 2018 World Cup in Russia after a remarkable evening in Dublin, having thrashed the Republic of Ireland 5-1 at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night.
After a 0-0 draw in Copenhagen on Saturday night, it was a case of winner-takes-it-all on Tuesday night, and Ireland made the perfect start with Shane Duffy’s headed opener.
However, that’s about as good as it got for Ireland, as Cyrus Christie unfortunately turned the ball into his own net, before Christian Eriksen whipped home a stunner before the break to put Denmark 2-1 up.
Eriksen placed home a fine left-footed strike to make it 3-1, and the Spurs ace completed his hat-trick by following up on a loose ball to smash home a fourth, before Nicklas Bendtner made it 5-1 from the penalty spot.
Whilst Ireland were left reeling from such a huge defeat, many were falling over themselves to praise Denmark star Eriksen for his performance in the game.
The Spurs playmaker has been going from strength to strength under Mauricio Pochettino, and he has not only starred for his club, but has now come up trumps for his country too with a stunning hat-trick.
Eriksen has unsurprisingly stolen the limelight from Tuesday’s game, and former Spurs hero Gary Lineker has taken to Twitter to hail his display.
Lineker praised Eriksen as ‘excellent’ in Denmark’s win, claiming that he was the one outstanding player to make the difference between two otherwise well-matched sides – and Spurs will hope that he takes that form into this weekend’s North London derby against Arsenal.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
