Spain 4-1 Georgia: Talking points as La Roja breeze past Georgia to set up Euro quarterfinal blockbuster

Having gone down to an 18th-minute own-goal from Robin Le Normand, Spain scored four to beat Georgia in the round of 16 at the Euros and set the stage for a showdown with Germany in the quarterfinals. Rodri (39′), Fabian Ruiz (51′), Nico Williams (75′) and substitute Dani Olmo (83′) were all on the scoresheet.

The game took place on Sunday evening at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.

The teams

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente paired Robin Le Normand with Aymeric Laporte in the heart of defence, in front of Unai Simon in goal, with Dani Carvajal on the right and Marc Cucurella on the left. Rodri anchored the midfield, with Pedri and Fabian Ruiz there as well. Upfront, Alvaro Morata was flanked by Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.

Meanwhile, Georgia coach Willy Sagnol went with five players forming a line ahead of Giorgi Mamardashvili in goal – Lasha Dvali, Guram Kashia and Giorgi Gvelesiani were the three centre-backs, flanked by Luka Lochoshvili on the left and Otar Kakabadze. Otar Kiteishvili, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Giorgi Chakvetadze formed the three-man midfield, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze paired up in attack.

The game

Spain expectedly dominated possession from the first whistle and attacked. The ball spent plenty of time in and around the Georgia box, and after 10 minutes, Mamadarshvili made a top-class save to deny a close-range header from Dani Carvajal.

But in the 18th minute, Georgia shockingly took the lead from what was practically their first attempt to threaten Simon’s goal. They sprang a quick move down the left, and Le Normand reacted clumsily to a cross under pressure from Kvaratskhelia to beat his own goalkeeper.

Spain weren’t put off by this moment of bad luck and with just over five minutes left of the first half, they got a deserved equalizer, though in an arguably controversial fashion. Their attack was just starting when Kiteishvili went down on the edge of the box, clutching his…

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Author : Veselin Trajkovic

Publish date : 2024-06-30 21:19:35

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