Motivated Danes on to round of 16

Denmark finally has a reason to celebrate at the European Championship.

Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle scored late goals to give Denmark a 4-1 victory over Russia on Monday in Copenhagen and a spot in the round of 16. finishing second in Group B.

After Christian Eriksen’s collapse in the first game and two subsequent losses, Denmark players celebrated in front of their raucous and jubilant supporters at Parken Stadium after the third and final home game of the tournament.

And given all the team’s earlier misfortune, perhaps it was fitting that they were helped by a massive gift this time. Yussuf Poulsen made it 2-0 in the 59th after Roman Zobnin tried to play a backpass to his goalkeeper but instead gave the ball straight to the Denmark forward, who could put it into an empty net.

That gave Denmark a big lead but Artem Dzyuba got Russia back in the match when he made it 2-1 from the penalty spot. However, Christensen netted from outside the area in the 79th and Maehle finished off a quick counter in the 82nd to put the game beyond doubt.

Maehle went straight to a TV camera to make a “10” gesture with his fingers — Eriksen’s number for the national team.

Belgium 2, Finland 0

In St. Petersburg, Russia, the world’s top-ranked team won to finish in first place in Group B.

Belgium’s second goal, scored by Romelu Lukaku in the 81st minute for his third at Euro 2020, could prove significant because it left the Finns as the worst third-place team in the three completed groups.

Netherlands 3, North Macedonia 0

In Amsterdam, Memphis Depay scored one, set up Georginio Wijnaldum for the next two, and the Netherlands made it three out of three in Group C to finish in first.

Memphis, who signed with Barcelona on Saturday, scored the first goal after a slick counterattack in the 24th minute. He then passed to Wijnaldum for a tap-in goal in the 51st, and seven minutes later goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski saved a shot from Memphis that Wijnaldum put into the roof of the net off the rebound.

Austria 1, Ukraine 0

In Bucharest, Romania, Christoph Baumgartner scored the only goal to put Austria into the knockout stage at the European Championship for the first time, placing second in Group C.

Baumgartner knocked in a corner from Austria captain David Alaba in the 21st minute, only four minutes after colliding head-to-head with Illia Zabarnyi on the other end of the field.