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Nottingham Forest’s Daryl Murphy endured a nightmare evening as the Republic of Ireland suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Denmark in the World Cup qualifying play-offs.

Optimism was high after the first leg finished 0-0, but Christian Eriksen plundered a stunning hat-trick with Forest flop Nicklas Bendtner scoring a late penalty in Dublin.

The Tottenham midfielder took the second leg by the scruff of the neck with two superb finishes either side of half-time before lashing home a third late on.

(Image: Getty)

In the process, he took his tally for the campaign to 11 goals, just two fewer than the Republic managed in their 12 games in the competition.

Reds legend Martin O’Neill again named Murphy upfront. Despite taking an early lead through Shane Duffy's header, Ireland were simply unable to find the right balance between attack and defence after Cyrus Christie's own goal had restored parity.

Ireland might have increased their lead with Murphy and James McClean going close, but the wheels came off in spectacular fashion inside three devastating minutes as Christie turned the ball into his own net and Eriksen finished brilliantly.

(Image: PA)

With 63 minutes gone as Eriksen expertly curled a left-foot shot inside the far post to make it 3-1.

He completed his hat-trick by dispatching a rasping drive into the roof of the net, and there was still time for Bendtner to have his say when he converted a last-minute penalty after being felled by Duffy.