Match report: Slovakia 0-5 Spain
Sid Lowe was in Seville to see Spain restore the confidence of their supporters ... albeit against extremely feeble opposition.
That late Sweden goal potentially very good news for England. Path to final could well be France/Germany (admittedly very tough), Sweden q/f and Holland s/f. While other half of draw surely much tougher with Italy, Belgium, Spain and either France/Germany
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) June 23, 2021
A quick recap: Spain missed a series of glorious early chances before Martin Dubravka put them ahead in the first half with a comical own goal some time after he’d saved a penalty from Alvaro Morata. The Spanish doubled their lead courtesy of an Aymeric Laporte header just before half-time. Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres added two more in the second half, before the hapless Juraj Kucka headed past his own goalkeeper to round off the rout.
Full time in Seville: Slovakia 0-5 Spain
Peep! Peep! Peep! Spain canter to victory and into the last 16 after battering Slovakia by five goals without reply. In truth they could have hit double figures, but it’s panic over for the time being for Spain’s supporters. They’ll play Croatia in the next round.
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90+4 min: Milan Skriniar is booked for, I think, laying hands on the referee.
Meanwhile in St Petersburg: Sweden have gone 3-2 ahead against Poland, which means they will top Group E. Spain will finish second. Slovakia will finish third with three points.
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90+1 min: We’ll have four minutes of added time although I suspect SLovakia’s players would happily settle for the final whistle right now. They’ve been slaughtered in Seville this evening.
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90 min: Slovakia substitution: Marek Hamsik off, Laszlo Benes on. Is that the last we’ll see of Hamsik in a Slovakia shirt? I suspect it might be.
89 min: Oyarzabaal shoots wide from a tight angle.
89 min: Traore gets past Hubocan on the byline but runs into a wall of defenders in close proximity to the near post.
87 min: Pedri stretches every sinew to try to poke a Thiago ball from deep goalwards. It’s just too high for him. The provider of the pass gets a thumbs up from the Spain midfielder.
Meanwhile in St Petersburg: Poland have equalised against Sweden through Robert Lewandowski, in a state of affairs that sends Spain top of Group E.
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83 min: Traore gets on the ball again, beating one man down the right flank, only to be dispossessed by a good tackle from Tomas Hubocan.
81 min: Adama Traore canters down the right flank and sends a cross to the far post. There’s nobody on hand to nod it home but the ball runs to Jordi Alba on the other flank. His low drive across the face of goal could scarcely be more inviting but nobody manages to prod it home.
80 min: Hubocan and Suslov attempt to link up on the edge of the Spain penalty area but are repelled by a wall of Spanish resistance.
78 min: Thiago plays a low through ball in behind for Sarabia to chase but overhits his delivery. Dubravka clears up at the back.
75 min: Spain double-substitution: Adama Traore and Mikel Oyarzabal on for Gerard Moreno and Cesar Azpilicueta.
GOAL! Slovakia 0-5 Spain (Kucka 71og)
Crikey! Pau Torres almost scores with his first touch.The sub’s header at a free-kick is kept out by Dubravka but Juraj Kucka heads home unwittingly from close range with the follow-up to add to the astonishingly high number of own goals we’ve seen in this tournament.
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71 min: Spain double-substitution: Pau Torres and Thiago on for Busquets and Garcia.
70 min: Slovakia double-substitution: Tomas Suslov and Vladimir Weiss come on for Lukas Haraslin and Robert Mak.
68 min: A penny for Morata’s thoughts as the man who just replaced him scored with his first touch. He wouldn’t be human if he didn’t feel a little envious.
GOAL! Slovakia 0-4 Spain (Torres 67)
Ferran Torres scores with his first touch, flicking the ball home with his heel from three or four yards out after the ball was squared from a well worked corner.
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65 min: Spain substitution: Ferran Torres on for Alvaro Morata, who gets a warm ovation from the Spanish fans.
64 min: An Azipilicueta cross to the near post is intercepted before it reaches the forehead of Morata.
62 min: Slovakia, who are at least having a go in this second half, get forward again. Lukas Haraslin unleashes a shot from distance but sends the ball well wide.
Elsewhere in Group E: Robert Lewandowski has spanked home a beauty to pull a goal back for Poland. They trail 2-1 in St Petersburg.
Updated
Elsewhere in Group E: Emil Forsberg has scored his second goal of the evening to put Sweden two up against Poland.
59 min: A Koke free-kick from the left is curtled towards the far post, where it’s cleared.
57 min: That was probably Spain’s best goal of the tournament so far, a neat passing move in which they worked the ball wide to Alba, who squared it for Sarabia.
GOAL! Slovakia 0-3 Spain (Sarabia 56)
Pablo Sarabia extends Spain’s lead, sweeping the ball home with a neat left-foot finish from eight yards out. Jordi Alba provided the cross from the left.
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55 min: Michal Duris snatches at a shot after running on to a through ball from deep. He tried to lift the ball over the goalkeeper but while the idea was good, the execution was awful.
51 min: Milan Skriniar rants and raves at the linesman after being quite correctly flagged for a foul on Morata, who he grappled to the ground near the halfway line.
49 min: Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon gets a rare touch, authoritatively hoofing the ball down the pitch after intercepting an overhit ball from deep some way outside his penalty area.
47 min: Meanwhile in St Petersburg, Robert Lewandowski, of all people, pulled off a quite astonishing double-miss in the first half of Poland’s match against Sweden. He hit the bar with a header from distance, then with the goal gaping, hit it again with his follow-up from just a few yards out. Make it your business to see it if you haven’t already.
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Second half: Slovakia 0-2 Spain
46 min: Spain get the ball rolling and Slovakia have made two changes in personnel. Michal Duris replaces Ondrej Duda up front. Stanislav Lobotka is on for midfielder Jakub Hromada.
Fun fact: Alvaro Morata’s first-half penalty miss was the fifth consecutive spot-kick Spain have failed to put away.
Elsewhere in Group E: Sweden lead Poland 1-0 in St Petersburg and as things stand, they lead the group with Spain coming second. Slovakia, who have offered nothing against Spain, are in third place.
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Half-time: Slovakia 0-2 Spain
Peep! Despite missing a host of glorious opportunities, including a penalty, inside the opening 20 minutes, Spain go in for the break with a two-goal lead. Martin Dubravka was the unfortunate scorer of their opener, palming a dropping ball into his own net. The goalkeeper was at fault for the second goal too, getting himself caught in no-man’s land and allowing Gerard Moreno to put a cross on the head of Aymeric Laporte, who made no mistake.
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45+4: Oh dear. It’s another Dubravka error. The ball came to Moreno at the byline from the corner and Dubravka sort of dithered over whether or not to go and try to relieve him of the ball. His hesitation allowed Moreno to loft a crosss to the edge of the six yard box, where Laporte rose to head the ball across the face of goal and inside the far post. Despite getting back in position, Dubravka was powerless to keep it out.
GOAL! Slovakia 0-2 Spain (Laporte 45+3)
Spain double their lead through Aymeric Laporte’s first international goal.
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45+3 min: Sarabia tries to stand the ball up at the far post for Morata but his excellent delivery is headed out for a corner by Skriniar.
45+1 min: Gerard Moreno shoots on the turn from just outside the Slovakia penalty area. His love drive is straight at Dubravka.
44 min: Sarabia is bodychecked by Peter Pekarik just outside the left side of the Slovakia penalty area but doesn’t get a free-kick. Referee Bjorn Kuipers obviously decided he just ran into the Slovakia full-back.
43 min: “They’ve offered nothing going forward, if I’m honest,” says McCoist of Slovakia. “For a team with so much at stake ...” He’s not wrong.
41 min: Pedri plays the ball wide to Sarabia on the left touchline and he looks to Jordi Alba for support. The full-back’s cross is intercepted.
39 min: Sergio Busquets is booked for an excessively robust challenge on not one but two Slovakia players at the same time. He gets two for the price of one there as both go to ground holding their ankles.
39 min: Slovakia centre-half Lubomir Satka heads a Spain free-kick from about 40 yards out clear of his penalty area.
36 min: Duda finds himself through on goal with only Unai Simon in the Spanish goal to beat. He looks offside but the linesman’s flag stays down. He takes a shot, fires wide of the far post ... and then the flag goes up.
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33 min: On ITV, the great Clive Tyldesley and Ally McCoist are feverishly speculating over what it was exactly Dubravka was trying to do when he palmed that ball into his own net. Was the sun in his eyes, they wonder. It doesn’t seem to be. Did he lose the flight of the dropping ball like a cricketer in the field might, they enquire. Perhaps, but it is a comparatively giant ball. I’m as at a loss as they are, to be honest.
31 min: That’s an absolute shocker for Dubravka. Sarabia unleashed a shot that hit the crossbar and sailed towards the heavens. As it dropped from the sky, Dubravka leaped to ... well, I don’t know what he was trying to do but instead of tapping it over his own bar for a corner, he simply palmed it into his own net.
GOAL! Slovakia 0-1 Spain (Dubravka 30og)
Martin Dubravka palms one into his own net to give Spain the lead!
Slovakia’s goalkeeper Martin Dubravka scores an own goal . Photograph: José Manuel Vidal/AFP/Getty Images
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29 min: Sarabia sends an awful cross into the Slovakia penalty area, far too close to Dubravka.
28 min: Jakub Hromada goes to ground roaring in agony after a tangle with Koke, who appeared to kick the sole of his boot. He’ll live.
26 min: The players of both sides and referee Bjorn Kuipers adjourn to the touchline for a brief Uefa-sanctioned drinks break.
25 min: Spain corner. Dubravka flaps at the inswinger under pressure from Morata but gets away with it, due in no small part to Milan Skriniar getting a flick to the ball and taking it off the head of the Spanish striker.
24 min: Morata cuts across the edge of the Slovakia penalty area and unleashes a rasping, rising shot. Dubravka saves.
22 min: Slovakia get the ball out of their own half but an overhit crossfield pass from Peter Pekarik sails out of play for a Spain throw-in.
20 min: Now it’s Moreno’s turn to miss a glorious chance to put Spain ahead. He fails to make contact with the ball at the far post, despite Azpilicueta’s wonderful, teasing delivery from the right flank. All three of Spain’s forwards have a missed sitter to their name after just 20 minutes and it’s been the story of their tournament so far.
Updated
19 min: Serabia misses a sitter, failing to make proper contact on the ball as he made a run between two defenders to get on the end of an excellent Pedri cross from the left. He gently scuffs the ball into Dubravka’s arms when he should have burst the net.
17 min: Goin g back to the penalty, Hromada got the wrong saide of Koke and as he tried to havck a 50-50 ball clear, he caught the Spanish midfielder’s leg instead of the ball. It was unintentional but a foul nonetheless.
15 min: Slovakia striker Ondrej Duda is booked for some indiscretion or other. Apologies, I didn’t see what.
13 min: Juraj Kucka has a sly little kick out at Sergio Busquets as he backs into the Spanish captain but gets away with it. Either the Video Assistant Refereee didn’t see it or did spot the foul but didn’t deem it worthy of intervention.
Morata misses!
Of course he does! The Spanish striker has looked a nervous wreck throughout this tournamment and his penalty is saved by Martin Dubravka. The Slovakia goalkeeper dived to his right and blocked the shot, which was neither high nor low enough to beat him.
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Penalty for Spain ...
It’s been given and Alvaro Morata is taking the spot-kick.
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10 min: There’s a VAR check for a potential penalty for Spain. Referee Bjorn Kuipers is going to have a look at his pitchside monitor to see if Koke was fouled by Jakub Hromada as the Slovak midfielder tried to hack the ball clear.
9 min: Pedri tries to play Moreno in behind with a ball over the top but his pass is intercepted.
8 min: Sarabia sends a long ball towards the far post from deep but Dubravka gathers comfortably in the Slovakia goal.
5 min: Martin Dubravka palms away a shot from Morata after good work down the inside left from Gerard Moreno. Sarabia is unable to get to the ball to follow up. Spain have really started on the front foot.
4 min: Elsewhere in Group E, Sweden have already gone a goal up against Poland.
3 min: A white elephant of a stadium built in the hope of winning an ultimately doomed Olympic bid many years ago, the stadium in Seville is unloved by the locals and it’s not difficult to see why. The stands are way, way back from the pitch.
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1 min: Alvaro Morata puts Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka under early pressure on a susprisingly threadbare pitch but the ball goals out for a goal-kick.
Slovakia v Spain is go ...
1 min: Marek Hamsik gets the ball rolling, the players of Slovakia wearing blue shirts, black shorts and black socks. Their opponents wear white, shirts and socks.
Not long now: The teams march out on to the pitch, Slovakia led by Marek Hamsik, Spain by Sergio Busquets. It’s a cauldron in every sense of the word in Seville, with the temperature a fairly sweltering 32 degrees centigrade. It’s time for the national anthems and kick-off is just four minutes away.
Slovakia v Spain line-ups
Slovakia (4-2-3-1): Dubravka; Pekarik, Satka, Skriniar, Hubocan; Kucka, Hromada; Haraslin, Hamsik, Mak; Duda.
Subs: Valjent, Gregus, Weiss, Suslov, Benes, Kuciak, Hrosovsky, Hancko, Duris, Lobotka, Rodak, Koscelnik.
Spain (4-3-3): Simon; Azpilicueta, Garcia, Laporte, Alba; Busquets, Koke, Pedri; Moreno, Morata, Sarabia.
Subs: De Gea, P Torres, Marcos Llorente, Thiago, F Torres, Sanchez, Gaya, Rodri, Fabian, Olmo, Traore, Oyarzabal.
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Germany-Hungary! Not really important in the grand scheme of things. Greetings from the Fußball Arena München ™️ 🌈 #DontTellViktor pic.twitter.com/gAtdMDXBpz
— Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1) June 23, 2021
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Stefan Tarkovic speaks
“Spain have one of the best teams in the competition, great quality,” said Slovakia’s manager. “ I expect Busquets will return to the side, to bring higher quality and calmness in the middle of the pitch. It’ll be a challenge for us and is a match every single player wants to play.
“We are trying to keep our fighting spirit going. We have played two good matches so far, even if the end of the game with Sweden was slightly frustrating for us. We need time to forget about that, but we’re ready to give it our all once again. And hoping once more for a positive result.”
Luis Enrique speaks
“It’s logical that I’m preoccupied with us meriting better results but not getting them,” said Spain’s manager in his pre-match press conference. “I’m focussed on motivating my players. I feel that when we get our first win our level will soar to it’s best version.
“It’s about our finishing. We’ve created enough chances to win both games. But I’m not going to give Slovakia any helpful clues about what we’ll do tomorrow. We coaches fully understand the fact that we live by results. And what not meeting your objectives means. I’m hoping that by the end of Wednesday we’re not only in the knockouts but as group winners. Right now I’ll accept the criticism.”
Today’s match officials
- Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands)
- Assistant referees: Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands)
- Fourth official: Stephanie Frappart (France)
- Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
How things stand in Group E
Slovakia need a point to be certain of going through and will top the group if they win and Sweden do not.
Spain will go through if they beat Slovakia. They will also go through if they draw and Poland do not beat Sweden.
If Slovakia, Sweden and Poland all finish on 4 points ... well, let’s wait and see.
Early team news
Slovakia manager Stefan Tarkovic must plan without Lazio centre-back Denis Vavro, who is in splendid self-isolation after testing positive for Covid. Slavia Prague winger Ivan Schranz remains sidelined with injury.
For Spain, Sergio Busquets is once again available for selection after spending time in quarantine after his positive Covid test. He may come in for Rodri, who is on a yellow card. The word from the Spanish camp is that Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta will make his first appearance of the tournament today.
Group E: Slovakia v Spain
It’s must-win for Spain and must-not-lose for Slovakia in this critical encounter at the Stadium La Cartuja. The hosts have had a frustrating start to the Euros, with astonishing profligacy in front of goal restricting them to draws against Sweden and Poland.
Anything less than a win here and they’re likely to exit the tournament. Having won their opening match against Poland, Slovakia followed up with defeat at the hands of Sweden. A point today will see them through to the knockout stages. Kick off in Seville is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
