European Nations League,
League A – 4
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place
- Bullgood Stadium
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Judgment
- Eric Lambrechts
Ivan Perisic 17′
Mikel Merino 61′
Mikel Merino 88′
Mikel Merino was Spain’s hero as they came from behind to beat ten-man Croatia 2-1 in Split and secure their place in the World Cup qualifiers. European Nations League Quarter-finals.
The world champions were stunned in the 17th minute when Croatia suffered a humiliating 7-0 defeat against England the last time they were out, and they took the lead in the 17th minute.
Ivan Perisic headed in the rebound after Unai Simon had denied Igor Matanovic after excellent work from Mateo Kovacic.
Matanovic wasted two chances to double the lead and found Simon in good condition while Spain struggled to respond to Croatia’s strong start.
But Merino came on for Alex Baena before the start of the second half, and the Arsenal player’s introduction was an effective substitution by Luis de la Fuente.
Merino restored parity just after the hour mark, calmly shooting into the bottom left corner from Dani Olmo’s pass.
Simon then came to Spain’s rescue once again as he made a good save to deny Perisic a second goal after a huge error by Martin Zobimendi while trying to play from the back.
Luck continued to smile at La Roja, as the Croatia top scorer received a red card 11 minutes before the end of normal time after receiving a second yellow card for stopping a Spanish attack by cutting Mark Cucurella from behind.
And Merino made sure Spain took advantage of their extra man, collecting Zobimendi’s high pass on the turn with an impressive piece of control before curling an unstoppable shot beyond Dominik Livakovic.
After four victories in four matches, with a nine-point difference over Croatia, which is third in Group C, Spain has secured its place in the quarter-finals with two matches remaining.
Croatia
Spain
European Nations League table
League A – Group C
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position 1, 2: Qualifiers: Quarter-finals
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position 3, 4: Possible playoff
