The announcement that there would be six minutes of added time brought the thousands of Croatian fans to their feet, all of them now sensing a remarkable comeback could be on the cards. Just when it looked as though Croatia was dead and buried, this experienced and resilient team – World Cup finalist three years ago – fought back and halved the deficit through Mislav Orsic, with the goal confirmed using goal-line technology. Those stops paved the way for Spain to extend its lead, as Torres capitalized on some sloppy defending to get in behind Croatia’s back line and slot the ball through Livakovic’s legs. The next 20 minutes provided some sort of redemption for Simon, who pulled off two smart saves to maintain his team’s slender advantage. Torres’ inviting cross was attacked with intent at the far post by Azpilicueta, whose firm header gave Livakovic no chance. Spain will have entered the halftime break perhaps both relieved and frustrated to be level, but it took little more than 10 minutes for Luis Enrique’s side to take the lead after the restart. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/POOL/AFP via Getty Images However, Spain soon reasserted its dominance and hit back through Sarabia, who found the roof of the net after Livakovic had initially pulled off a sharp save.Ĭesar Azpilicueta gave Spain the lead early in the second half. The own goal seemed to briefly give Croatia some confidence, with Spain’s players scarcely believing they were behind. It would be something of an understatement to say that goal came against the run of play, as Spain had been totally dominant until Simon’s calamitous error.

It was the ninth own goal scored at Euro 2020, remarkably equaling the total number of own goals scored at all European Championships between 19. On the 20-minute mark, Pedri’s seemingly innocuous back pass was miscontrolled by goalkeeper Simon, who could only watch on in despair as the ball bobbled past his foot and nestled into the corner of the net. However, unfortunately for Spanish fans, that was far from the biggest error one of their players would make in this round of 16 match. Just moments later, Torres’ pinpoint cross picked out Alvaro Morata unmarked in front of goal, but the striker skewed his effort horribly – something that has become a running theme for the 28-year-old at Euro 2020. Koke had a wonderful chance to give Spain the lead on 15 minutes after latching onto Sergio Busquet’s delightful through ball, but he was only able to fire straight at the legs of Dominik Livakovic in the Croatia goal. There was certainly no hint in the match’s early stages that this would turn into an all-time classic. Wolfgang Rattay - Pool/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images Unai Simon of Spain looks dejected after allowing Pedri's pass to bobble into the net.

Unai simon euro 2020