Portugal 0-1 Spain: Injury time winner sees La Roja win Iberian Derby | OneFootball

Mikel Merino was the difference between Spain and Portugal in this intriguing Round of 16 clash in Dallas, with his injury-time winner sending La Roja to the quarter-finals.

The bulk of the match belonged to the keepers, more specifically Diogo Costa, who made five vital saves to keep Portugal in it as long as possible. Whilst Unai Simón didn’t have too much to do, he was reliable when called upon and kept his fifth clean sheet of the tournament.

Merino was only on the pitch for five and a half minutes before finding the winning goal, which will now see Portugal face Belgium or the USA in the next round.

As it happened

Roberto Martinez made just a single change to his Portugal side following their 2-1 win over Croatia, with João Félix replacing Rafael Leão. Meanwhile, Spain named an identical side to the one that overcame Austria in the last round.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes are the only remaining players to have featured in the 3-3 draw between these two sides at the 2018 World Cup, a game in which Ronaldo scored a famous hat-trick.

Mikel Oyarzabal registered the first shot on target of the match inside the opening five minutes, but his effort from outside the box was comfortably caught by Costa. João Cancelo took aim for Portugal shortly after, firing narrowly wide from a tight angle.

Mere moments later, Oyarzabal broke through the Portuguese defence and dragged his shot wide, missing a guilt-edged opportunity. Chances continued to flow in an electric start to the match; this time it was Simón being called into action to palm away a ferocious Ronaldo strike.

Costa wanted in on the goalkeeping antics at the other end of the pitch, making a superb double save to deny Lamine Yamal and Álex Baena’s curling efforts. A ball into the box from Pedri caused chaos in the Portugal penalty area on the half-hour mark, with Costa forced into an unconventional save before Dani Olmo headed wide from the rebound, before being ruled offside.

Portugal came incredibly close to an opener in the 36th minute, when Félix’s header was saved into the path of Ronaldo, who saw his stretched volley well caught by Simón. Nuno Mendes was next to take aim at the Spain goal; however, his powerful strike was headed onto the bar by Pedro Porro.

No more real chances came for either side before the break, as they headed in level.

The opening stages of the second half went by without either side creating a clear-cut chance. The first flashpoint came when Mendes was withdrawn through injury and replaced by Nélson Semedo after a superb tackle on Yamal.

Félix and Ronaldo linked up once again on the hour mark, but the cross was slightly overhit, meaning Ronaldo’s stretching effort was comfortably saved. Minutes later, a string of Spain corners saw them try to break the deadlock, but Baena’s deliveries were well dealt with.

It took 20 minutes of the second half for there to be a shot on target, which came from Baena when he spun his man before seeing his effort gathered by Costa. A double change followed for Portugal during the hydration break, which saw Félix and Cancelo replaced by Leão and Diogo Dalot.

With less than 20 minutes left on the clock, Yamal won a free-kick on the corner of the box. He took the set-piece himself and forced a strong save from Costa. Spain’s first substitution followed, with Ferran Torres replacing Baena.

Fernandes threatened to spark the game into life seconds later, but his volley could only find the side netting. A superb block from Rúben Dias followed at the other end, denying Olmo an opener for Spain as the closing stages of the 90 approached.

Portugal’s final changes saw Bernardo Silva and Francisco Conceição introduced to replace Pedro Neto and Vitinha. A change that makes Silva Portugal’s fourth all-time cap winner. Merino was then brought into proceedings by Spain, replacing Olmo.

Silva was shown the first yellow card of the match for a clumsy foul on Merino in the 89th minute. It didn’t seem to hurt the Spaniard too much, though, as seconds later he popped up with a crucial goal for his country. The Arsenal man was slotted through by Torres before sliding the ball into the bottom corner. Renato Veiga was shown a yellow card shortly after the goal for tripping Yamal.

Silva came painfully close to a last-gasp equaliser for Portugal, but he couldn’t quite keep his header down having done so well to win it in the first place. Spain’s final change saw Oyarzabal replaced by Borja Iglesias as they looked to wind down the clock.

Torres gave away a needless foul in the final moments and was booked for his troubles. However, Fernandes’ cross was headed wide by João Neves, confirming Spain’s spot in the quarter-final, where they will face Belgium or the USA.