Thomas Tuchel’s England won the battle for top spot in Nations League Group A3 with a 3-2 victory over Spain at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, finishing first on goal difference and ending the world champions’ 43-match unbeaten run.
The final numbers suggest a Spanish siege. The hosts had 64% of the ball, completed 462 passes to England’s 243 and took 23 shots to nine. But those figures hide two very different games. For an hour, England pressed Spain into mistakes and built a 3-0 lead. After Elliot Anderson’s red card in the 63rd minute, Spain threw everything forward, and only James Trafford stood between them and a draw that would have kept them top.
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England’s tactical setup
Tuchel set up in a 4-2-3-1, with Declan Rice and Anderson behind Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon, and Harry Kane leading the line. Far from sitting back, England went after Spain from the first whistle. They had 69% of the ball in the opening 11 minutes, and their high press gave Spain no time to play out from the back. In the seventh minute, England robbed the hosts as they tried to build from deep, and Kane’s first-time shot flashed just wide.
The left flank was England’s main route forward. According to FotMob, 46% of their attacks came down that side, where Lewis Hall acted almost as an extra winger. He whipped in a dangerous first-time cross in the ninth minute, set up a Rogers shot in the 18th and dribbled into the Spain box a minute later.
England were also far more effective with the ball at their feet. They completed 18 of their 20 dribbles and won 65% of the ground duels, with Bellingham driving at the Spain back line whenever he got the ball. Set pieces added more pressure. England’s opening corner produced Bellingham’s close-range effort in the second minute, and Unai Simon was forced into action again from another corner moments later.
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Most importantly, England created the better chances. Their nine shots were worth 2.28 expected goals (xG), and they had five big chances to Spain’s three. Kane converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Pau Cubarsi had brought him down, and Spain went in at the break without a single shot on target.
Spain’s tactical setup
Luis de la Fuente also lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Martin Zubimendi and Fabian Ruiz in midfield behind Lamine Yamal, Mikel Merino and Alex Baena, and Mikel Oyarzabal up front. Spain’s plan ran through Yamal on the right, where 43% of their attacks came. That made the battle between Yamal and Hall the key contest of the night, since both teams were attacking down the same flank.
In the first half, England won that battle. Spain managed only four attempts before Anderson’s red card, all of them before the interval and none on target. Their early chances came from Pedro Porro, who replaced the injured Marc Pubill in the 21st minute and went close with a header and a long-range shot.
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The tactical chess match
De la Fuente’s response at half-time was a triple change, with Dean Huijsen, Pedri and Fermin Lopez replacing Cubarsi, Ruiz and Merino. Yet England scored twice in the first 12 minutes of the second half. Ezri Konsa met Rice’s corner with a completely free header in the 53rd minute, and four minutes later Bellingham slipped Ben White in at the back post for a third. Neither goal was down to aerial dominance. The two sides won exactly 10 aerial duels each, and England’s edge came from winning the ball and moving it quickly.
The turning point came from England’s own mistake. Jarell Quansah was caught on the ball in the 63rd minute, Yamal ran through on goal and Anderson pulled him back. Anderson had already committed five fouls in midfield, and this one earned him a red card. Oyarzabal converted the penalty two minutes later.
From that moment, the game belonged to Spain. They had 19 of their 23 shots after the red card, while England managed just one, Kane’s blocked effort in the 74th minute. Yamal was at the centre of everything. He beat Hall more often, had five shots in the final 20 minutes and set up the second goal.
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In-game adjustments
Zubimendi’s injury in the 72nd minute forced De la Fuente’s hand, and he sent on Nico Williams to give Spain pace on both wings. Three minutes later, Gordon lost the ball in midfield, Yamal crossed behind the England defence on the fast break and Williams finished off the inside of the post.
Tuchel’s changes were all about protecting the lead. He took off Kane for Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 78th minute, leaving Gordon as the focal point, before replacing Bellingham and Gordon with Djed Spence and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the 83rd. Dan Burn came on for White in the 89th minute.
England had to defend their box, and they made 32 clearances to Spain’s eight. White’s last-ditch block denied Williams a certain goal in the 84th minute, and Trafford did the rest. He finished with six saves, including two big saves, and was credited with preventing 0.29 goals. The best of them came at the end, when he pushed away Fermin’s shot and then tipped Aymeric Laporte’s follow-up around the post. Simon, by contrast, made two saves and was 0.58 goals below what was expected from the shots he faced.
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Conclusion
England’s win was built in the first hour. Tuchel’s side pressed high, attacked down the left through Hall, beat Spain on the ground and turned their chances into goals. Spain’s late surge came only after the red card and two England turnovers. It was enough to make the final half-hour a siege, but not enough to beat Trafford. England finished top of the group on goal difference, and Spain’s long unbeaten run ended in their own capital.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
