Spain lose final despite Merino penalty & Zubimendi goal | OneFootball

Portugal won the UEFA Nations League on Sunday despite Arsenal’s Mikel Merino converting a penalty for Spain and Gunners target Martin Zubimendi scoring early on.

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Arsenal fans had quite a few players to keep an eye on in the Nations League final between Portugal and Spain on Sunday, but almost exclusively from the Spanish side of the field.

Mikel Merino and David Raya were both in the matchday squad, though neither started the game. Merino came on in the 75th minute, whilst Raya was an unused substitute.

Martin Zubimendi has been heavily linked with Arsenal, and he was involved from the start, whilst another rumoured target in Nico Williams also started.

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Zubimendi opened the scoring in the final, driving his team forwards before capitalising on a loose ball in the penalty area for 1-0.

Portugal’s Nuno Mendes equalised in the 26th minute, Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal retook the lead in the 45th, but Portugal bounced back again through Cristiano Ronaldo to level the game at 2-2 just after the hour mark.

After that, Merino was introduced, but the Arsenal 28-year-old couldn’t break the deadlock in the remainder of normal time and extra time. The contest went to penalties.

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Merino stepped up first for Spain, converting with a confident spot-kick to send the goalkeeper the wrong way. But Portugal came out on top as Alvaro Morata was the only player to fail to convert.