June 23, (THEWILL)- In another Euro 2020 match with two own goals, Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka’s howler that opened the scoring on Wednesday helped Spain to an emphatic 5-0 win as the quality-packed squad finally burst to life ahead of the round of 16.
The performance will ease the pressure on under-fire Spanish manager Luis Enrique, who made four changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Poland. He introduced Cesar Azpilicueta, Sergio Busquets, Eric Garcia and Pablo Sarabia with the choice of Sarabia proving particularly inspirational.
Out of the blocks, Spain were out for blood even if their misfiring centre forward, Alvaro Morata, did nothing to prove his doubters wrong with a wasteful penalty kick that was saved by Dubravka in the 12th minute. Only for the keeper to go from hero to villain at the stroke of the half hour mark.
Dubravka, under very little pressure from Morata, inexplicably decided to punch a looping ball from a Sarabia left-footer which had struck the post and hung in the air around the goal line, only to see the ball go into the roof of the inside net to give Spain the lead. It was a goal from which the Slovaks never recovered.
The Spanish lead was doubled when Aymeric Laporte scored his first Spain goal after only recently switching nationalities. He got his head to the end of a Gerard Moreno cross to place the ball into the top corner, in the third minute of extra first half time so that Spain went into the break two goals to the good.
For the second time Sarabia was proving his inclusion was a bonus for Spain when he was picked out via a Jordi Alba low cross. The Paris Saint-Germain forward controlled the ball and finished the move neatly for Spain’s third goal of the match.
Enrique’s day was made all the better when only 44 seconds after he introduced Ferran Torres off the bench, the Manchester City player scored a fourth with Sarabia involved once again. The fifth goal was the second Slovakian own goal inadvertently coming off defender Juraj Kucka as he tried to clear the ball.
The trouncing qualifies Spain for the last 16, but not as group leaders because Sweden’s 3-2 victory over Poland gave them the top spot of the standings in Group E.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
