0 shots on target, 0% aerial duels won: Hojlund endures horrific evening on international duty

24/03/2024 09:47

Rasmus Hojlund and Denmark played out a rather dull draw as they finished 0-0 against Switzerland yesterday.

However, both sides will probably be happy with the workout as the two teams have the reputation for being stubborn opponents in the knockout stages of tournaments.

There was much talk before the game about Denmark and Manchester United’s negotiations to control Hojlund’s game time as he had only just returned from a month-long injury against Liverpool last weekend in the FA Cup.

The 21 year old had a quiet evening in a game of few chances but he did manage to create two dangerous moments for the Scandinavians.

In the 23rd minute he felt he had won his side a penalty, as he ran at the defence in a similar fashion to his goal versus West Ham last month but before he could fire off a shot, he was felled in the area. However after VAR took a look, no decision was given.

Hojlund’s best chance of the game came in the 70th minute when he beat the offside trap and galloped behind the Swiss defence.

He went one-on-one with the keeper but blazed his effort well over the crossbar when more composure was called for.

Sofascore gave the young United forward a score of 6.7, as he failed to make much of an impact on proceedings.

He played 84 minutes before being subbed off and managed two shots on goal, but both failed to call the keeper into any sort of action.

To highlight his lack of involvement, the striker only managed 12 passes but 10 found their intended target, giving him an 83% accuracy.

He also only touched the ball 27 times as he was left isolated up top.

The youngster was also unusually no threat in the air as he only competed in one aerial duel and lost it. He was also only able to win 33% of his ground battles.

He was also quite wasteful, giving the ball away nine times, just one less than the amount of successful passes he managed.

Hojlund will hope to bounce back and be significantly more involved on Tuesday night when his national side take on the Faroe Islands.

2023 was a prosperous year for him in front of goal as he scored an impressive seven goals in eight games for the Danes.

How he would love to carry that goal scoring form into the Euros tournament in the summer and the Faroes are as good an opponent as any to try and start filling his boots.