England 0-1 Denmark: Harry Maguire sent off as hosts lose in Nations League at Wembley

Harry Maguire’s miserable start to the season continued with a red card as England had two men sent off for the first time in their Nations League defeat by Denmark.

England’s night got worse four minutes later when Christian Eriksen scored his 34th goal for Denmark on his 100th appearance after Kyle Walker was harshly adjudged to have fouled Thomas Delaney.

Chelsea defender Reece James was shown a red card after the final whistle for confronting referee Manzano.

In a low-key affair, England had their moments and it took a magnificent save from Kasper Schmeichel to claw away Mason Mount’s close-range header as Denmark closed out the win.

England are now third in their group, with only the winners progressing to the Nations League finals in 2021.

Maguire misery sums up England’s night

Maguire endured what must have been one of the most miserable nights of his career before he was sent off after only 31 minutes.

It was bad from the opening moments when he needlessly left his foot in on Poulsen, and the rest of his performance was distracted and chaotic.

Maguire was ill-at-ease with England’s three-man defensive system, often out of position, even pulling up holding the top of his hamstring at one point before his fate was sealed by a shocking first touch which he tried to retrieve with a lunge that injured Dolberg.

He looks like a player suffering mentally as well as physically following his recent arrest in Greece and it would be no surprise if he was also taken out of the line of fire at club level given his recent poor form.

He made an error that led to Tottenham’s first goal in United’s 6-1 home defeat before the international break and his display earned him a rating of just 1.85 out of 10 by BBC Sport readers.

England never seriously troubled Denmark apart from a couple of late scares, Harry Kane looking out of sorts and the failure of manager Gareth Southgate to introduce the creativity of Jack Grealish ahead of Jordan Henderson – which is no slight on the Liverpool captain – a mystery.

There was also more uncertainty involving goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and Walker that led to a somewhat dubious penalty award – summing up what was a very unsatisfactory and disjointed night for England and Southgate.

James indiscipline mars fine display

Chelsea’s James was arguably England’s best player on his full debut – only to ruin all that good work after the final whistle when he got verbally involved with referee Manzano and was shown a red card.

It was a moment of frustration for the 20-year-old but also inexcusable ill-discipline, which has been a trend in England’s recent games given Walker’s sending-off in Iceland last month and the two dismissals here.

This was a bad night for England but James was one of those who could have held his head high, until he unwisely showed dissent to the officials.

James had been solid in defence and a real threat in attack, on a night when England were struggling with reduced numbers and were being held at bay by a resilient Danish rearguard.

Sadly for James, a fine performance will now be remembered for the wrong reasons.

Player of the match

SchmeichelKasper Schmeichel

Three defeats in 50 – the stats

• This was only England’s third home defeat in their past 50 competitive internationals on home soil.
• Denmark have lost just two of their past 40 international matches, keeping clean sheets in nine of their past 11 games.
• Christian Eriksen has been directly involved in 32 goals in his past 35 appearances for his national side (24 goals, eight assists).
• This was Marcus Rashford’s 40th England cap, making him only the third player to reach that tally before the age of 23, after Michael Owen in 2002 and Wayne Rooney in 2007.