Eight and a half months after suffering cardiac arrest at the finals of the European Championship, Danish international Christian Eriksen has made his competitive comeback to professional football in England.

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 in the league.

The "Bees" were outnumbered at home from the eleventh minute because Josh Dasilva received a red card for a hard foul.

Eriksen played his last Premier League game for Tottenham Hotspur 766 days ago.

At the beginning of the EM 2021 he collapsed during the first round match of the Danish national team in Copenhagen at home shortly before halftime against Finland due to a cardiac arrest.

While still on the pitch, the doctors began fighting for Eriksen's life before the doctors could give the all-clear after an hour.

The next day, the doctors put a pacemaker in the professional.

However, the 30-year-old midfielder was unable to fulfill his wish to continue his career at Inter Milan.

The rules in Italy prohibit professional clubs from using players with a defibrillator in place for reasons of health protection.

After a period of rehab, Eriksen signed at Brentford under coach Thomas Frank, a compatriot who has known the player for a long time.

Brentford carefully built up the experienced midfielder and prepared him for his first competitive appearance for his new club.

In several friendlies, Eriksen was able to approach the top level again.

The 109-cap international still wants to qualify in Brentford for a place in Denmark's squad for the World Cup finals in Qatar, which will be played in November and December 2022.

In the parallel game on Saturday, Manchester United disappointed against relegation contenders Watford FC.

The team coached by Ralf Rangnick and led by Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't get past a 0-0 draw 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.