Denmark broke the deadlock after 43 scoreless minutes, winning a penalty that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hid.
The visitors maintained their domination in the second half. Rasmus Hojlund scored twice in the 50th minute, then scored again seven minutes later for his double and Denmark’s third.
Joachim Andersen added a fourth in the 75th minute.
Bernardo Silva scored with Portugal’s only goal in the 90+3 minute, but the evening ended with a defeat for the ‘Marins’ in their first match since Cristiano Ronaldo announced his international retirement.
Denmark’s victory took them to nine points and second place in Group Four. Portugal remained on 12 points at the top.
The newspaper Marca ran through the key moments, noting that Portugal started cold, slow and heavy.
With Bruno Fernandes on the left and Joao Felix pulling the strings behind Goncalo Ramos, Jorge Jesus’ men were unable to gain control of the ball or play it cleanly from their own half.
The distant efforts of Vitinha and Neto failed to trouble Hermansen, but Portugal gradually found their feet. They turned the battle for possession around and started playing in the Danish half.
Denmark issued a warning in the 38th minute, with a goal scored for offside against Damsgaard in the build-up. Moments later, Ruben Dias handled a Hojlund header and conceded a penalty.
Diogo Costa had guessed the right way, but Hojbjerg made no mistake, firing a powerful shot high into the net.
Portugal’s problems worsened at the start of the second half. Ruben Dias received a yellow card which excludes him from the last match against Wales.
The worst was yet to come. In the 50th minute, Damsgaard collected the ball in the box, turned and slipped a pass to the far post, where Hojlund first met it. Diogo Costa had no chance.
Ruben Neves tried to bring Portugal back into the match with a rocket, but Hermansen collected it and Neto sent the rebound over the bar.
Hojlund punished the hosts once again. In the 57th minute, he collected the ball in the attacking third, ignored Renato Veiga and curled a right-footed finish into the far corner. Ruben Dias had broken away from the defensive line, keeping the Danish striker out.
Jorge Jesus responded with three substitutions at once. Next came Palhinha and Trincao, who ballooned his first touch over the bar following a pass from Vitinha, alongside Carlos Forbs, who donned the number 7 jersey he had already worn a year earlier against Armenia in the World Cup qualifiers.
Instead of a Portuguese recovery, Denmark struck again a quarter of an hour from time. Hojlund took a free kick and Joachim Andersen rose to bury an unstoppable header.
Portugal at least improved the scoreline in stoppage time. Forbs broke free on the right and beat his man, Hermansen blocked Joao Neves’ shot from the heart of the box and Bernardo Silva was on hand to score the rebound.
Gn sports
