Danish delight

Late goals
Tomasson opened the scoring a minute before half-time with a simple finish from close range and Grønkjær completed the success two minutes into added time, sidefooting into the corner to seal the three points.

The final score might have been more emphatic, but Ebbe Sand's thunderous last-gasp strike rebounded off the crossbar.

Gravesen back
As expected Thomas Gravesen returned to the centre of the Danish midfield after his one-match suspension with Christian Poulsen dropping to the bench.

After a good performance against Italy in Guimarães on Monday, Dennis Rommedahl kept his place in the starting lineup with Grønkjær among the substitutes, having joined the squad on Tuesday following a family bereavement.

Bulgaria also kept their changes to a minimum with centre-back Ilian Stoianov coming in for Predrag Pazin, who failed to recover from an ankle injury.

Kirilov caution
It was a lively start, with Bulgaria's Rosen Kirilov earning himself a yellow card for a challenge from behind on Tomasson as early as the fourth minute.

It was his second booking of the tournament and rules the central defender out of Bulgaria's last group match against Italy.

Sand denied
The first real chance fell to Denmark after three minutes when Martin Jørgensen created an opening for Sand in front of goal.

The striker got his shot on target, but Kirilov was able to scramble back to clear off the line.

Moments later, Rommedahl, who posed all manner of problems for Bulgaria in the early stages, swung in a dangerous cross and Ivailo Petkov had to be alert to head to safety with Jørgensen lurking on his shoulder.

Grønkjær in action
Denmark were forced to make a change after 23 minutes when Rommedahl pulled up and had to be replaced by Grønkjær.

The winger's first meaningful action almost resulted in a goal when the Bulgaria defence failed to clear Jørgensen's cross and the ball broke for the substitute, but Bulgaria goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov got down smartly to smother at his near post.

Near misses
Denmark should have broken the deadlock six minutes before half-time when Gravesen sent Tomasson through, but he was forced wide as he tried to round Zdravkov and shot into the side-netting.

At the other end, Hristov headed wide after Thomas Sørensen had dropped a high cross, before Martin Petrov wasted a good opportunity after playing a one-two with Dimitar Berbatov on the edge of the penalty area.

Tomasson on target
The Danes immediately broke upfield and scored the opening goal they had threatened.

Gravesen opened up the Bulgarian defence again with another perceptive through-ball and Jørgensen's unselfish pass was rolled into an empty net by Tomasson.

Gravesen dominance
Plamen Markov's side needed to make an early impression in the second half if they were going to salvage anything from the fixture, but instead they found themselves under more Danish pressure as Gravesen dictated the tempo in midfield and provided a steady supply of passes for his forwards.

Bulgaria did create an opening on 55 minutes when Zoran Jankovic picked up a loose ball 25 metres out, but his powerful shot flew just past Sørensen's left-hand post.

Petrov off
Bulgaria tried to threaten as the match moved into the last ten minutes, but their hopes were effectively ended by the dismissal of captain Stilian Petrov for a second yellow card seven minutes from time, and Denmark were able to confirm a comfortable win thanks to Grønkjær's late strike.