Croatia 1-2 Spain: Merino inspires comeback as world champions seal Nations League quarter-final berth

UEFA Nations League,
League A – 4

Poljud Stadium

Erik Lambrechts

Ivan Perišić 17′

Mikel Merino 61′
Mikel Merino 88′

Mikel Merino was the hero Spain as they were coming from behind to beat 10 men Croatia 2-1 in Split and get their place in the UEFA Nations League quarter finals

The world champions were stunned in the 17th minute when a Croatia side humiliated 7-0 by England last time out took the lead in the 17th minute.

Ivan Perisic nodded in the rebound after Igor Matanovic was denied by Unai Simon following excellent work from Mateo Kovacic.

Matanovic spurned two chances to double the lead, finding Simon in fine form as Spain struggled to respond to Croatia’s strong start.

But Merino replaced Alex Baena before the start of the second half, and Arsenal’s introduction was an instrumental change from Luis de la Fuente.

Merino restored parity just after the hour mark when he calmly slotted into the bottom left corner after Dani Olmo’s lay-off.

Simon came back to Spain’s rescue when he made a fine save to deny Perisic a second after a terrible mistake by Martin Zubimendi as he tried to play in from the back.

And fortune continued to smile on La Roja when the Croatia goalscorer was given his marching orders 11 minutes from the end of normal time after receiving a second yellow card for halting a Spain attack by cutting down Marc Cucurella from behind.

Merino ensured Spain took advantage of their extra man, collecting Zubimendi’s lofted pass on the turn with an exquisite piece of control before firing an unstoppable shot past Dominik Livakovic.

With four wins from four and a nine-point cushion over third-placed Croatia in Group 3, Spain are assured of a place in the last 16 with two games to spare.

UEFA Nations League table

Upcoming matches for Croatia and Spain