MALAGA – Portugal left Cristiano Ronaldo at home and lost its unbeaten record in 2022 and the lead of its UEFA Nations League group. Goals from Carlos Soler and Pablo Sarabia earned Spain a 2-0 victory over Czech Republic, a result that put them on top of group A2.
Last year’s finallists dominated the game from the start and opened the scoring when Soler struck from close range in the 24th minute following a brilliant pass by man-of-the-match Marco Asensio.
Substitute Sarabia extended Spain´s lead in the 75th minute, finishing a counter-attack started by Barcelona’s 17-year-old midfielder Gavi.
The Spaniards, who wore the women’s team jersey to support their female counterparts who will play the Women´s European Championship next month in England, top Group A2 standings with eight points from four matches.
Portugal dropped to second with seven points following a 1-0 defeat by Switzerland, Reuters reported.
Third-placed Czech Republic has four points, one ahead Switzerland, who recorded their first win in this year’s competition.
Luis Enrique made nine changes to the starting line-up that beat Switzerland 1-0 on Thursday.
Making his first start for Spain since November 2020, Asensio provided the pass which Soler fired in from close range.
Spain kept threatening the Czechs and enjoyed 73% of possession but often lacked the precision to make it count. They only managed to score after Gavi came off the bench in the second half.
In the 75th minute, the teenager stole the ball and raced past two opposing players before passing through to Ferran Torres, who crossed to Sarabia. The Paris St Germain midfielder was left to fire the ball into an empty goal.
“It was all perfect,” Soler told TVE.
“We came wanting to give those fans who created an amazing atmosphere a win and it came accompanied by a great performance.
“Ending up the group leaders is the cherry on top, so it was a great effort and a fabulous night.”
Elsewhere, a goal after 57 seconds by Switzerland forward Haris Seferovi’c was enough for a 1-0 win in Geneva despite late pressure by Portugal including two scoring chances for 39-year-old captain Pepe playing as an emergency forward.
Portugal´s slip, after letting Ronaldo skip the last game of a long season, let Spain take first place in Group 2 with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic in top-tier League A.
The last two rounds will be played in September.
Portugal had gone unbeaten in five games this year starting with two wins in its World Cup qualifying playoffs in March and including a 4-0 rout of the Swiss last weekend, AP reported.
The Swiss had gone in the other direction with a five-match winless run since qualifying for the World Cup ahead of group rival Italy in November.
Portugal barely had time to miss Ronaldo, or touch the ball much, when falling behind within one minute. A quick series of passes linked by Xherdan Shaqiri lined up right back Silvan Widmer for a dangerous cross.
It found Seferovi’c, who plays in Portugal for Benfica, to guide a header into the far bottom corner of the net.
Shaqiri was preparing to take a penalty kick 10 minutes later, after his cross struck the hand of left-back Nuno Mendes, but a video review found a foul in the center circle in the buildup.
Starting on the bench after a tiring season in England and the Champions League, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota were sent on after an hour and within seconds Silva lashed a shot that was punched clear by Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin.
Omlin impressed with eight saves though almost gifted Silva a goal in the 67th. His misjudged pass from the goalmouth rebounded off the Portugal forward close enough to the ´keeper that he could dive on the loose ball.
Erling Haaland made it a 42-goal season tally in all competitions by scoring another double against Sweden to lead Norway to a 3-2 win over its Nordic rival.
The striker, who recently signed for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund, also netted twice against Sweden last Sunday in a 2-1 win for Norway in the first of the teams’ double-header this month in League B.
A week later in Oslo, Haaland darted in front of a defender to head home his first goal in the 10th minute and converted a penalty early in the second half to make it 2-0.
The 21-year-old star now has 20 goals in 21 senior international appearances with 13 of them scored this season. Haaland also tallied 29 for Dortmund.
Emil Forsberg curled a shot into the top corner to reduce the deficit for Sweden, only for Haaland to curl over a cross that was met with a far-post header by Alexander Sorloth.
Sweden’s second goal, from Viktor Gyokeres, came in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time.
