Rasmus Hojlund’s 75th-minute penalty condemned Wales to a 1-0 Nations League defeat by Denmark – their third loss in four matches.
Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward made the decisive error when he gave the ball away to Gustav Isaksen inside his own penalty area. The Wrexham player then brought down the Denmark forward as he attempted to recover, leaving the referee with a clear spot-kick to award.
Hojlund stepped up and sent Ward the wrong way to complete Denmark’s double over Wales, following their 2-0 win in Copenhagen last weekend.
The result came three days after Wales had beaten World Cup quarter-finalists Norway, but Craig Bellamy’s team lacked the same energy in their fourth match in 11 days.
Bellamy made only one change to the side that started against Norway, with Brennan Johnson replacing Daniel James in attack. Brentford playmaker Mikkel Damsgaard was unavailable for Denmark, while captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg went off injured within the opening 10 minutes.
Ethan Ampadu went close to opening his Wales account when he fired over from 25 yards, while Johnson volleyed wide at the far post.
Denmark created the greater danger despite Wales having 54% of possession in the first half. Ben Cabango was caught in possession before Hojlund, off balance, produced a tame effort at Ward.
Isaksen went down under a challenge from Ben Davies while shooting, with Denmark players appealing for another penalty. Morten Hjulmand headed wide and Isaksen missed twice in quick succession as the visitors increased the pressure.
Oliver Provstgaard also headed over, and Wales were relieved to reach half-time level.
The hosts were opened up soon after the restart when Andreas Skov Olsen crossed from the right and Hojlund’s sliding attempt was kept out by Ward’s legs.
Sorba Thomas was less influential than he had been against Norway, and one of his crosses struck Lewis Koumas on the shoulder before landing safely in the hands of Mads Hermansen.
Ward then made an excellent save to push Isaksen’s header on to a post, but he could not prevent his later mistake from deciding the contest.
Johnson shot over before Cabango received his second yellow card of the competition, ruling him out of Wales’ trip to Norway in November. Bellamy introduced several substitutes in an attempt to raise the tempo, but Wales struggled to break down Denmark’s organised defence.
The defeat ended Wales’ run of clean sheets since November. They move up to third in Group A4 after Norway lost in Portugal, with Norway dropping to the bottom on head-to-head results with the Dragons.
Davies said the defeat had been hard to take but praised the team’s effort.
“I didn’t feel like there was a whole lot in the game, to be honest. It’s a tough way to concede and a disappointing loss,” he told BBC Sport.
“We’d have loved to have had more (points) but when you’re playing against very good teams, strong opposition and the situation we’re in where we’re missing some key players, that’s football.
“We gave it our all and I’m very proud of the group.
“You can’t fault the effort that’s in this group, so we’re going to go into the next two games with nothing to lose.”
