Euro 2020: Spain beat Croatia 5-3 to progress to the quarter-finals
Spain beat Croatia 5-3 in Copenhagen in arguably the game of the tournament to progress to the last-8 of Euro 2020. Luis Enrique's men came into the game on the back of an impressive 5-0 victory over Slovakia and were the favourites to progress to the next round of the competition.
Spain made an expected quick start to the game, conjuring some decent goalscoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes of the game. However, it was Croatia who took the lead against the run of play courtesy of a bizarre own goal from Pedri.
The Barcelona midfielder sent a seemingly innocuous ball back to Unai Simon. But the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper failed to control the ball and watched helplessly as it trickled into his net. Croatia grew into the game after taking the lead, with Nikola Vlasic creating a couple of decent opportunities to double his team's advantage, but Spain held firm.
Pablo Sarabia brought La Roja back on level terms seven minutes before the half-time whistle. Jose Gaya's initial shot was parried straight into the path of Sarabia by Dominik Livakovic, who scored with a powerful strike from inside the penalty area.
Spain were the brighter of the two teams in the second half and grabbed a deserved lead through Cesar Azpilicueta. The Chelsea full-back headed home a wonderful cross from Ferran Torres at the back post to score his first goal for Spain.
Ferran Torres then doubled Spain's lead from a wonderful cross-field pass by Pau Torres. The Manchester City forward drove inside Croatia's box from the right wing and slotted the ball past Livakovic with a cool finish.
Croatia stage an incredible late comeback to force extra-time
Croatia didn't let their heads drop despite being two goals down and turned in a courageous display in the final ten minutes of the game.
Zlatko Dalic's men got one back in the 85th minute through Mislav Orsic. Orsic's shot was cleared by, Azpilicueta but only after the ball had already crossed the line. Mario Pasilic completed the comeback in the 92nd-minute. The Atalanta midfielder headed home a sumptuous cross from Orsic to take the game to extra time.
Alvaro Morata strikes for Spain in extra time to sink Croatia
Unai Simon made amends for his gaffe in the first half with a crucial save at the start of extra time. The goalkeeper denied a certain goal when he kept out Andrej Kramaric's powerful volley with a wonderful save.
Alvaro Morata then scored his second goal of the tournament to fire Spain in front. The Juventus forward took Dani Olmo's cross into his stride at the back post before rifling the ball into the back of the net. Mikel Oyarzabal doubled the advantage for La Roja when he slotted the ball past Livakovic from a tight angle.
Luis Enrique's men held on to their two-goal advantage in the second half of extra time to seal their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition. They'll now take on Switzerland, who dumped out reigning world champions France, in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 on Friday in St. Petersburg.