Spain, Albania, Croatia, and Italy were all in action on Monday, June 24, to finalize the order and tally of EURO 2024 Group B. Having already topped their group, La Roja were looking to become the first team in EURO 2024 to win their third consecutive game. Italy, meanwhile, were fighting to keep Croatia at bay, knowing a draw would be enough to carry them through to the Round of 16.
Spain Claim Routine Win Over Albania To Secure Perfect EURO 2024 Record
Luis de la Fuente made a whopping 10 changes to his side for the dead rubber against Albania, with only Aymeric Laporte featuring from the XI that started in the 1-0 victory over Italy last week. Despite so many changes, Spain did not lose their silky touch, creating their first goalscoring opportunity just 12 minutes in. Make-shift right-back Jesus Navas swung a brilliant cross into the area, hoping to assist Mikel Merino. The Real Sociedad defensive midfielder met with Navas’ delivery but could not keep his effort on target.
Spain, however, had their noses in front just a few seconds later, courtesy of a brilliant bit of play by Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres. Olmo played a delectable through ball into the Albanian box, allowing Torres to pick it up and steer it into the left corner of the goal.
Albania’s only opportunity of the half came in the 45th minute, as Kristjan Asllani tested David Raya with an outside-the-box effort.
Joselu and Olmo had a couple of decent chances to add to Spain’s advantage in the second half but ultimately failed to convert. With the 1-0 victory in the bag, Spain became the first EURO 2024 team to make it 3 out of 3. Albania, meanwhile, crashed out of the competition with only a point to their name.
Heartbreak For Luka Modric’s Croatia As Italy Equalize In Injury Time
Knowing only a win would extend their EURO 2024 journey, Luka Modric’s Croatia took on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s Italy on Matchday 3 of Group B. Croatia had a decent start to the game, but Italy…
Source link : https://sportslens.com/news/euro-2024-spain-top-group-croatia-italy/
Author : Sushan Chakraborty
Publish date : 2024-06-25 04:21:12
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-06-25 07:24:43
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.