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Men's Euros
ESP vs ITA
Men's Euros
VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
Spain
vs
Italy
1
FT
0
Action
Lineups
All
Facts Only
All
Full-Time: 1 - 0
That rounds things off for today's Euros action. Three more entertaining contests! For now, this is Nicholas Friedlander signing out.
Italy were simply outgunned tonight. The Spain side was better on paper, and on grass, as they were pretty much outplayed in every part of the pitch. Had it not been for Gianluigi Donnarumma, they could easily have lost by 3 or 4. The substitutes certainly provided a positive, with Zaccagni and Retegui looking lively on their introductions. Outside of that though, they did a lot of chasing and a lot of defending, as they desperately tried to cling on in the game. They now head into the last group game with Croatia, where a defeat could send the defending champions packing in the group stage.
It was largely comfortable stuff for Spain, who are certainly one of the favourites for this tournament. Lamine Yamal was incredibly involved and dangerous, yet he was only the second best Spanish winger on the park. Nico Williams terrorised the whole Italian side, eventually creating the goal. He deserved one to his own name two, having rattled the bar with a fantastic strike from just inside the box. Pedri too was silky, though he will benefit from a rest in the final group match. With top spot wrapped up on head to head, they can now rest players for their final match with Albania. Having impressed off the bench, Ayoze Perez is probably a good chance to start.
Spain join Germany in qualifying for the Round of 16, picking up the win against a hard-working Italian side. They dominated the first seventy minutes, eventually finding the game's only goal through an own-goal, as Riccardo Calafiori turned it into his own net. To their credit, once the subs came on, Italy evened the game up, and they pushed on late for an equaliser, but ultimately they were unsuccessful - and on the balance they can have few complaints.
90+7'
SPAIN SURVIVE! Cambiaso's first corner is headed away, but he manages to reload, with Bastoni nodding it back into the mixer. It was half-headed clear to the edge of the area, but only as far as Calafiori who thought about the bicycle kick. He scuffed it though, with it tamely rolling out for a goal kick... and that does it for this one!
90+5'
Carvajal is booked for a foul back on halfway...
D. Carvajal
90+5'
90+5'
Cambiasso drives in but has a cross blocked, though Italy won possession well, with Zaccagni standing it up to the back post! Numbers arrived, as they flashed it back across, but Le Normand headed behind for a corner.
90+4'
Fabian Ruiz has been down struggling with cramp, so he heads off for the final knocking. Mikel Merino replaces him.