A disastrous end to the first half for Greece saw Denmark cruise to a reasonably comfortable victory in Copenhagen to see their World Cup hopes diminish once and for all.
It was a fairly positive start for the visitors, but this proved all for nothing when a mistake at the back allowed Rasmus Højlund to give his side the lead.
Andersen’s header, followed by Damsgaard’s finish into an empty net, saw the hosts 3-0 up at the interval.
Christos Tzolis got one back for his side in the second half, but the damage was done as Greece were condemned to another defeat.
After their loss to Scotland only a few days ago, Greece knew that they would need to concoct a response away in Denmark. They provided their hosts with an almighty scare as 17-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas played a great ball across to an unmarked Konstantinos Tsimikas.
The full-back just could not sort his feet out in time to get a shot off, much to the relief of Denmark, who had been caught sleeping 40 seconds in.
The momentum was certainly in favour of the visitors in the opening exchanges as they looked to reassure their fanbase after the defeat a few days back.
Gustav Isaksen was looking like the danger man for Denmark, creating space to pull the trigger on the ten-minute mark. However, it was a relatively tame attempt that landed comfortably in the hands of Odysseas Vlachodimos.
A great chance to open the scoring fell in the direction of Greece as Fotis Ioannidis broke forward, leaving the visitors with a 2-on-1. The striker opted to go alone rather than square the ball to a darting Karetsas.
This was a decision that he would come to regret, however, as he was tackled before he got his shot off – a wasted opportunity for the visitors who so desperately needed a result.
But for all this Greek dominance, one moment could undo everything. Unfortunately for Ivan Jovanovic’s men, this was exactly the case.
Yet again, for the visitors, their downfall came from individual errors, with Christos Zafeiris becoming the latest perpetrator of one of these fatal mistakes. Retreating to Vlachodimos’ goal, the midfielder attempted to pass back to one of the backline, instead finding a player in red.
That player was Rasmus Højlund, in good form as of late, who coolly slotted his effort into the back of the net, piling more misery on Greece.
Those early periods of Greek control suddenly seemed like a distant memory. Things could have become worse had it not been for Vlachodimos, who got down low to deny a long-range strike from Andreas Christensen.
It was a bad position for the visitors to be in, but once again, they only had themselves to blame after a catastrophic error saw the momentum tip in favour of the Danes.
The hosts capitalised on this shift, extending their lead 40 minutes in through Joachim Andersen, who got off the mark for his nation. It was a towering header from the centre-back that flew into the back of the net. This was going from bad to worse for Greece.
It was almost like Ivan Jovanovic’s side had imploded, as less than a minute after Andersen’s goal came the third to surely put an end to Greece’s World Cup dream.
It was yet another nightmarish error from the visitors as Konstantinos Koulierakis tried to head the ball back to safety. It was Victor Froholdt who played the ball across to Mikkel Damsgaard. Vlachodimos was well off his line, leaving the Dane with an empty net to aim at, making no mistake in finding the back of it.
Greece looked crushed at the interval; they would need a miracle to get anything from their travels after a disastrous collapse in the final five minutes of the first half.
Denmark picked up where they left off in the first half, looking hungry for more despite seemingly already being over the line. Isaksen, looking determined to get his name on the scoresheet, fired another shot at goal, but was denied again.
The 24-year-old had yet another attempt, this time deflcting off one of the Greek backline, almost catching Vlachodimos out. However, at full stretch, the goalkeeper managed to keep the effort out.
But there was still a twist to come in this one, as Ioannidis made up for his earlier lapse in judgment, this time opting to lay the ball off to Christos Tzolis, who fired the ball in at the near post to give the visitors a glimmer of hope.
This sparked action on the Greek bench as Jovanovic made a quadruple change to try and capitalise on any sense of unease within that Danish backline that the goal may have caused.
Suddenly, the visitors had come to life, very nearly getting a second back through Giannis Konstantelias, who forced an instinctive save out of Kasper Schmeichel.
The Danish defence was once again called into action as the ball was cleared off the line – Greece were coming close.
But as time went on, it was becoming clearer that this just was not the visitors’ night. They simply could not recover from their first-half blunders.
It’s been a fantastic international break for Denmark, who look like they are going to cruise their way to a place in the World Cup. For Greece, it’s been quite the opposite, who will look back at the individual errors made in this campaign as a key factor to their omission from next year’s tournament.
Player of the match-Mikkel Damsgaard
The Dane played a huge part in this victory, being involved in two goals in two minutes. His delivery into the box for Andersen’s header was a superb one, whilst his finish, albeit into an empty net, was well taken.
He looked like a serious threat for the entirety of the 70 minutes he was on the pitch, as Greece struggled to contain him in the slightest.
Greece will likely be sick of the sight of him, as this is the second consecutive game against the night’s visitors in which Damsgaard has found the back of the net.