Spain’s historic 43-game unbeaten streak has come to an end in epic fashion as England beat La Roja 3-2 in a thriller at the Metropolitano in Madrid on Sunday night’s UEFA Nations League league phase finale. The Three Liones dominated the first hour and had a 3-0 lead before Lamine Yamal took over and got Spain very close to an epic comeback against 10 men, but England found a way to hold on and secure top spot in the group.
England had a very strong start, creating all sorts of problems with their high pressing and physical defense and forcing Spain into unusual mistakes in their build-up early on, and Harry Kane (twice) and Jude Bellingham missed three massive chances in the first 20 minutes, which were thoroughly dominated by the visitors.
La Roja eventually fixed the mistakes with their passing at the back and finally had some possession, and Lamine Yamal did his best to hold the ball, earn some free-kicks and slow down the English momentum, but Spain never came close to creating a real chance all half.
England were by far the better side and deserved to be ahead, and they got a golden chance just before halftime when Kane was played in behind the defense and was brought down by Pau Cubarsí in the box for a clear penalty. The Ballon d’Or winner scored from the spot with authority, and the Three Lions had a deserved lead going into the break.
Luis de la Fuente made a triple change at halftime, taking off Cubarsí for Dean Huijsen and sending on two Barça midfielders in Pedri and Fermín López looking to add more control and dynamism in the center of the park.
But La Roja barely had any time to establish superiority in the second half as England scored twice in a five-minute span to confirm their dominance before the hour mark: the second goal came from Ezri Konsa who headed home a corner from Declan Rice, and the third was a perfect counter-attack that ended with an assist from Bellingham and a strong finish by Ben White.
Spain looked stunned and defeat seemed certain, but Yamal won the ball off Jarell Quansah and was taken down in the box by Elliot Anderson, who was shown a straight red for not playing the ball. Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the spot, and Spain had a half-hour against 10 men to produce a miracle comeback.
La Roja amped up the pressure even further and scored their second with 15 minutes to go as Pedri won the ball off Anthony Gordon in midfield and Fermín played a quick pass to Yamal, who gave Nico Williams a tap-in at the far post to send the crowd into a frenzy.
Thomas Tuchel took off Kane and Bellingham and parked the bus in the final minutes looking to defend England’s narrow lead, and James Trafford made a sensational double save to deny Fermín and Aymeric Laporte in what was Spain’s best chance to equalize in stoppage time.
The final whistle came to end yet another epic encounter between the two, who faced each other twice in one month and provided two fantastic games of football. Each team won 3-2, and England top the group on goal difference and should get an easier opponent in the Nations League quarter-finals next March.
What a game!
