NEWS
Fifth win: Spain remain flawless in the Nations League
The world champions win their fifth game of the Nations League season, although Spain had to work hard against the Czechs.
World champions Spain traveled to Prague to face the Czech Republic on matchday five of the UEFA Nations League.
Without the injured Lamine Yamal, the Spaniards secured a 2-0 away victory.
Unlike in their previous Nations League matches, "La Furia Roja" had to wait a long time for a goal. The Czechs remained solid and made it difficult for Jose Luis De La Fuente's side to create clear-cut scoring opportunities.
Baena converts from the spot
The breakthrough finally arrived just a few minutes before half-time. Following a handball by Lukas Ambros in his own penalty area, Atletico player Alex Baena scored the relief-bringing opener from the penalty spot (39').
Just three minutes after the restart, Spain seemingly made it 2-0: Yeremi Pino's strike was disallowed for offside following a VAR review, however.
Czech Republic down to ten men after last-ditch foul
From the 72nd minute onwards, the Czechs were reduced to ten men. As the last defender, Ladislav Krejci pulled down Roberto Fernandez and was shown a straight red card after a review. Even so, the world champions struggled to put the game to bed for a long time. It was only in stoppage time that substitute Marc Pubill sealed the 2-0 victory.
With this result, Spain claim their fifth win in as many games in Nations League Group A3 and maintain their three-point lead over England at the top of the table.
