London (AP) – More than nine months after his collapse at the European Football Championship, Christian Eriksen has made his competitive comeback.
Accompanied by loud cheers and a standing ovation, the Denmark international came on as a 52nd-minute substitute in the Premier League game between Brentford FC and Newcastle United. The fact that the hosts lost the sportingly important game 0:2 (0:2) was almost irrelevant in the London Community Stadium.
Joelinton (33rd minute) and Joe Willock (44th) scored in the duel to keep Newcastle United in the league, which overtook their direct competitor Brentford thanks to the away win. The “Bees” were outnumbered at home from the eleventh minute because Josh Dasilva received a red card for a hard foul.
Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest on June 12, 2021 during Denmark’s EURO match against Finland in Copenhagen and had to be resuscitated. He was then fitted with a defibrillator. Because the former Inter Milan professional is not allowed to play in the Italian Serie A, his contract there was terminated. In the winter he signed for Brentford. The Dane played his last Premier League game for Tottenham Hotspur 766 days ago.
In the parallel game, Manchester United disappointed against relegation contenders Watford FC on Saturday. The team of coach Ralf Rangnick around the superstar Cristiano Ronaldo did not get more than 0-0 in the penultimate table and increasingly has to tremble for a place in the Champions League. There was applause for Man United before kick-off as Rangnick and players from both teams held up a sign with a message of peace for Ukraine.