Published on : 12/06/2022 – 23:04Modified : 12/06/2022 – 23:03
Málaga (Spain) (AFP) – After starting their Nations League campaign with two draws, Spain followed up a second consecutive success on Sunday by dominating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Malaga, and regained the lead in group 2 ahead of Portugal, beaten 1-0 by Switzerland.
Shortly before the half-hour mark, Marco Asensio, launched deep, delivered a perfect ball to Carlos Soler for the opener (24th). Then Pablo Sarabia, with a second goal in the 75th minute, broke and secured victory for La Roja, hanging 2-2 in the first leg in Prague a week ago.
The first goal did the Spaniards the greatest good, who surfed on their highlight with a new opportunity for Soler, again served by Asensio four minutes later (28th).
The Madrilenian also asked for a penalty just after the goal (27th), when he collapsed in the box after contact, but the referee did not flinch.
Until then, Luis Enrique’s men, who sometimes suffered under the Czechs’ rapid transitions, could count on a great Unai Simon to keep them afloat.
In the 18th minute, the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper extended to repel Vaclav Cerny’s strike. And two minutes later, he did it again with a very nice save on an attempt by Jan Kuchta in the box.
Note on the Czech side, the exit on injury in the 29th minute of Michal Sadilek, obviously for a blow. He was replaced by Alex Kral.
The Czechs never seemed able to challenge the superiority of their host even if their start to the second half deserved a better fate. Unai Simon then had to work to preserve the clean sheet of Roja by coming out of an exceptional parade the strike of Alex Kral (67th).
The Czechs conclude this first international window of the League of Nations 2022-2023 in 3rd place in the group, while the Spaniards go on vacation with the satisfaction of having raised the bar.
© 2022 AFP