Spain 3-0 Austria: La Roja cruise into last 16 thanks to Oyarzabal double | OneFootball

Spain have secured their spot in the last 16 of this year’s World Cup, as they picked up a 3-0 win over Austria in a game where they never really looked threatened.

Marc Cucurella appeared to open the scoring after half an hour when he volleyed home, but it was disallowed almost immediately by the officials. However, it was Mikel Oyarzabal who netted the opener just minutes later, sweeping the ball into the bottom corner.

Spain got their second in the 65th minute, when Pedro Porro steamed onto the end of Álex Baena’s cross to head into the back of the net for his first international goal. Cucurella and Oyarzabal combined again for Spain’s third, with the forward calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

Unai Símon also deserves some credit for Spain, having now broken the record for the most consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding a goal as La Roja kept their fourth clean sheet in as many games.

As it happened

Luis De La Fuente named two changes to his Spain side following their 1-0 win over Uruguay last time out, with Porro and Dani Olmo replacing Mikel Merino and Marcos Llorente, as the Spaniards looked to be more front-footed for this clash.

Meanwhile, Ralf Rangnick made three changes to his side, with Michael Gregoritsch, Kevin Danso and Paul Wanner replacing Marko Arnautovic, Philipp Mwene and Philipp Lienhart.

It took less than two minutes for Lamine Yamal to register his first shot on target, marauding into space before seeing his strike comfortably saved by Alexander Schlager. Everyone will be glad to know that in the 13th minute, we got an update on Danny Murphy’s cat, Bob, who has now sadly passed away after moving into Murphy’s parents’ house in Preston, RIP Bob. As you can perhaps tell, the game was yet to come to life.

It threatened to do just that a few minutes later, though, when Marcel Sabitzer’s cross almost found the head of Gregoritsch inside the Spanish penalty area. The next flashpoint came on the half-hour mark, when Cucurella lashed home what appeared to be the opening goal, only for it to be disallowed immediately.

Schlager was called into action twice more shortly after, firstly denying Yamal before Oyarzabal saw his effort palmed away too. However, it was Oyarzabal who found the opener just moments later, when he swept into the bottom corner from Cucurella’s cross.

Yamal looked to make it a quickfire double for Spain when he took aim from distance, but his shot was straight down the throat of Schlager. The Austrian keeper was the centre of the action again on the stroke of half-time, reacting quickly to deny Yamal from close range, after Baena’s free-kick rebounded off the crossbar, meaning Spain headed in at the break 1-0 to the good.

Ragnick made a double change at half-time, as his side went in search of an equaliser. Carney Chukwumeka and Florian Grillitsch replaced Xaver Schlager and Nicolas Seiwald in the middle of the park. Oyarzabal registered yet another shot on target shortly after, but it was straight at Schlager.

Rodri was next to take aim on the Austria goal, but his effort flew just wide of the post following a deflection. Injury worry came for Spain fans 10 minutes into the second half, when Yamal stayed down after a tackle; however, he was able to carry on.

Further changes followed for Austria, with Gregoritsch and Romana Schmid being replaced by Arnautovic and Sasa Kalajdzic. The latter almost made an immediate impact, but he couldn’t direct his header on target.

Spain got their second in the 65th minute, when Porro steamed onto the end of Baena’s cross to head into the back of the net for his first international goal. A double change followed the goal for La Roja, with Ferran Torres and Merino replacing Olmo and Baena.

Tempers flared in the 74th minute after a late challenge; however, the referee stepped in before any bookable offences were committed from either side. Torres looked to add a third for the Spaniards, but he headed over from Yamal’s corner.

At the other end of the pitch, Austria showed signs of life when Chukwumeka fired wide after a lovely passing move. The first yellow card of the game came a few minutes later, when Stefan Posch brought down Cucurella.

Yamal came ever so close to getting in on the scoring action with five minutes left on the clock, but his volley was cleared off the line by El Clásico rival David Alaba. He was subsequently withdrawn and replaced by Gavi.

They did get their third, however, when Cucurella and Oyarzabal combined again with the forward calmly slotting the ball into the bottom corner. At the other end of the pitch, Símon also deserves some credit for Spain, having now broken the record for the most consecutive World Cup minutes without conceding a goal as La Roja kept their fourth clean sheet in as many games.

Spain’s final changes saw Fabián Ruiz and Marc Pubill replace Pedri and Aymeric Laporte for the final three minutes of stoppage time. They saw out those minutes with relative ease, and secured their spot in the last 16 with an emphatic win.