Spain vs England: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis, UEFA Nations League 2018-19
England beat Spain 3-2 in what turned out to be a dramatic game in Seville in their UEFA Nations League encounter on Monday night. It was a tense start to the game with Spain dominating the early stages but England soon wrested control to score three first-half goals.
Raheem Sterling scored twice on either side of a Marcus Rashford strike to shock the crowd at the Estadio Benito Villamarín as England took a 3-0 lead into the half. Luis Enrique then waited 12 minutes in the second half before making substitutions.
Paco Alcacer scored within a minute of coming on from a corner kick to make it 1-3 while Sergio Ramos made it 2-3 in the 97th minute. By then it was too late for La Furia Roja to mount a comeback but a debatable penalty decision may have also changed the game.
This was Spain's first loss in a competitive game at home in 15 years. Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 High defensive lines exposed early
With both teams employing a 4-3-3 formation, there was quite a bit of traffic in midfield. Off the ball, England organised themselves in a 4-5-1 formation with Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford dropping into the midfield line and playing wide.
This saw Spain initially resort to long balls to test the English centre-backs, particularly Joe Gomez. The 21-year-old was targeted by Spain's midfielders and their forwards looked to pounce on the second ball which was working as a useful tactic to create chances and take shots on goal.
Marco Asensio himself had three shots on target in the first 20 minutes and it was only by pure luck that Jordan Pickford managed to get in the way of Marcos Alonso's attempted shot.
However, it was England that drew first blood with their very first shot on goal. A move that started all the way back from Pickford saw him pick out Harry Kane in a deep position, who then spotted Rashford out on the flank.
Spain's back-line was slow to react and Rashford released Sterling with an incisive pass in behind with no chance for David De who could only look away in disgust as Sterling's piledriver of a shot screamed into the top corner.
To make matters worse for Spain, England made it 2-0 with another diagonal pass, this time from Harry Kane who spotted Rashford's run in behind. De Gea's lack of ability to come off his line and sweep up behind his defenders was clearly exploited by England manager Gareth Southgate.
The Three Lions ended the half with a 3-0 lead as Kane set up Sterling yet again with Spain's defence failing to pick his run.