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UEFA Nations League Reports; Spain 1 Switzerland 0, Ukraine 1 Germany 2
2020-21 UEFA Nations League Matchday 3 of 6 Report – Saturday, October 10, 2020
Spain 1 Switzerland 0 – Group A4
Real Sociedad's Mikel Oyarzabal scores Spain's lone winner
Spain ensured that they remained at the top of Group A4 when they beat Switzerland by a lone goal in a UEFA Nations League clash in Madrid on October 10th night.
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Wolverhampton winger Adama Traore made his international debut for Spain, while Liverpool's Xherdan Shaqiri came on for Switzerland after being declared fit following a negative test.
The Swiss were the first ones to be in with a chance when wing-back Loris Benito let loose a low shot to the near post but David De Gea, who coming in place of Kepa Arrizabalaga, was smart enough to palm the ball away.
The Switzerland's early effort was negated when their defense gifted Spain the game's lone goal in the 14th minute.
Sergio Busquets latched onto a callous pass from Swiss custodian Yann Sommer in the penalty area and set a ball up for Mikel Oyarzabal to fire in.
The Spaniards could have gone ahead a little later but Ferran Torres's header was palmed away by Sommer.
Oyarzabal missed out on a splendid chance to double his tally shortly after the interval when the Sommer palmed a shot into his path, but he wasn't quick enough to react as he turned the ball in at the back post.
Barcelona prodigy 16-yaer old Ansu Fati spent an uneventful evening upfront and had to be replaced by debutant Traore as a second goal for Spain remained elusive.
Ukraine 1 Germany 2 – Group A4
Leon Goretzka and Matthias Ginter goals give Germany their first win
Die Mannschaft recorded their first win from six games in the UEFA Nations League when they beat Ukraine 1-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on Saturday night.
The hosts seem happy to sit back and let the Germans control the game and counter-attacking whenever they won possession.
With Joachim Low's side dominating it was only a matter of time before the first goal came.
Sidelined Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger provided the assist for Germany's opener following a deft run outside the Ukraine defence and essaying a ball for Borussia Monchengladbach center-back Matthias Ginter to prod in for the visitor's first in the 20th minute of play.
The Germans could have added a few more before the interval with Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry and Toni Kroos all coming close to scoring.
Recent Chelsea signings Kai Havertz and Timo Werner who started on the bench, came in at half-time with the Die Mannschaft under some pressure as Ukraine pressed for an equalizer.
But it were the visitors who were rewarded 4 minutes after the break with their second when Leon Goretzka took advantage of a goalkeeping error from Ukrainian custodian Heorhiy Bushchan, who made a hash of Lukas Klostermann's cross from the right and allowed the Bayern Munich midfielder to tap in a easy header from close range.
The hosts found their consolation goal when rival defender Niklas Sule brought down Roman Yaremchuk inside the penalty area, allowing Ruslan Malinovskyi to pull a goal back from a penalty in the 77th minute, but they never looked like troubling Manuel Neuer further as the German held on to their lead.
Germany, who did not win a game in their inaugural Nations League campaign two years ago, now have 5 points from three games in the current edition of the competition.
Fans were let in to watch the game up to a limit of 30 per cent in the 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium.
Other results from Saturday, 10 October games
- C1 Luxembourg 2-0 Cyprus
- C1 Montenegro 2-0 Azerbaijan
- D1 Faroe Islands 1-1 Latvia
- D1 Andorra 0-0 Malta
- D2 Liechtenstein 0-1 Gibraltar
