Spain secured their place in the Nations League quarter-finals with two matches to spare after coming from behind to beat Croatia 2-1 in the early hours of this morning, with Mikel Merino starring thanks to a two-goal haul.
At their home ground in Split, Croatia started with real purpose following Saturday's 0-7 defeat to England – a match the hosts had to play in front of an all-children crowd because their supporters were banned for racist behaviour. Slaven Bilic's side began well and quickly built pressure towards the Spain goal.
Goalkeeper Unai Simon was repeatedly called into action, before Croatia turned their superiority into the opening goal. Simon saved Igor Matanovic's effort, but Ivan Perisic was quickest to the loose ball and headed it into the net.
Simon himself then put the visitors in danger with a careless pass inside the box, but Croatia could not take advantage to double their lead as Matanovic was denied by the Spain goalkeeper.
The game changed markedly in the second half after coach Luis de la Fuente sent Mikel Merino on. In the 61st minute the midfielder met a pass from Dani Olmo – a player who came through the ranks in Croatia – and struck low past Dominik Livakovic to pull Spain level.
Around ten minutes before time, Croatia were reduced to ten men when Perisic received a second yellow card for a foul on Marc Cucurella. Making the most of their numerical advantage, Spain increased the pressure and scored the winner in the 88th minute. Merino turned cleverly before firing a powerful shot past Livakovic to complete his personal double.
The victory extends Spain's unbeaten run to 42 matches and maintains their perfect record in the Nations League group stage. De la Fuente's side now lead Group A3 by three points from England and have officially qualified for the quarter-finals with two rounds of matches still to play.
