Nations League: Merino saves Spain in Netherlands, Germany roar back at Italy

The Guardian

20-03-2025

Spain snatched a stoppage-time equaliser against the 10 men of the Netherlands to secure a 2-2 draw on Thursday that kept up a two-year unbeaten streak and gave the holders the advantage in their Nations League quarter-final tie.
Substitute Mikel Merino, a makeshift striker at club level for Arsenal, proved his ability in front of goal for his country too with a close-range finish three minutes into added time.
The Dutch had fought back after going behind in the ninth minute with goals from Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders but finished with 10 men after teenage defender Jorrel Hato was sent off eight minutes from time for a studs-up challenge.
Spain, who had not lost in their previous 21 competitive internationals, opened the scoring through Nico Williams after a fast start to the game. An error from 19-year-old Hato was latched on to by Spain's 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, whose pass to Pedri in the box was slipped through for Williams to fire home.
Germany came from behind to defeat Italy 2-1 at San Siro in the first leg of their quarter-final, with Leon Goretzka heading the winning goal 14 minutes from time.
Germany pressed high early on, with Italy looking to hit them on the counter, and the hosts opened the scoring in the ninth minute with their first chance. Nicolo Barella played a pass into the box for Matteo Politano, who pulled the ball back towards Moise Kean and when it fell to Sandro Tonali, he drove his shot into the corner.
Germany equalised four minutes into the second half when Joshua Kimmich floated the ball into the box and unmarked substitute Tim Kleindienst rose to power a header past Gianluigi Donnarumma with his first touch.
'There were a couple of situations that we paid too heavy a price for over the course of the game,' Italy manager Luciano Spalletti told RAI Sport. 'It was a pass from midfield, they found someone free in the box.'
Croatia's Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic struck to secure a deserved 2-0 win over France in their quarter-final first leg, as the return of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé failed to get the visitors firing.
Croatia also missed an early penalty when Andrej Kramaric's spot-kick was saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, and the 2023 runners-up were full value for a win that might easily have been achieved by a greater margin. France created chances and tested Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic several times, but it was a below-par performance on a night that had promised much with the return of Mbappé in particular after he sat out his side's last four fixtures.
Denmark striker Rasmus Højlund came off the bench to net the winner as his side beat Portugal 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg at the Parken stadium.
Højlund, who has struggled to score for Manchester United this season until his last game, at Leicester on Sunday, struck in the 78th minute to help spare the blushes of Christian Eriksen, whose first-half penalty was saved.
Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty scored first-half headers as the Republic of Ireland battled back to beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the first leg of their Nations League playoff.
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Marin Petkov fired the hosts into an early lead at a sparsely populated Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv but midfielder Azaz quickly levelled with his first international goal. Right-back Doherty, who before the game played down talk of a rift with manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, completed the comeback by nodding home the winner in the 42nd minute.
The deserved victory was a third from seven games under Icelandic coach Hallgrímsson as his side took a small step towards preserving their League B status ahead of Sunday's return match in Dublin.
Ukraine came from behind to beat visitors Belgium 3-1 in the first leg of their playoff, moving into a strong position to earn promotion to the competition's top tier. Ukraine's Oleksiy Hutsulyak, Vladyslav Vanat and Ilya Zabarnyi, of Bournemouth, secured the comeback after Romelu Lukaku had put Belgium in front after 40 minutes, nodding home from a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick in coach Rudi Garcia's first game in charge.
Ukraine, who hosted Belgium in the Spanish city of Murcia, started well and forced Thibaut Courtois into two early saves. But the returning goalkeeper, who has not played for Belgium for almost two years amid a fallout with their former coach Domenico Tedesco, was barely tested again in the first half and captain Lukaku opened the scoring just before the break with his first Belgium goal since November 2023.
In a more lively second half, De Bruyne could have doubled the lead for Belgium through a low attempt from the edge of the area that was brilliantly saved by Ukraine keeper Andriy Lunin.
However, Ukraine then grew into the game and hit back through Hutsulyak, who capitalised on a mistake by the Belgium defence to level in the 66th minute, before stretching away with two more goals.
Belgium, who earned four points from six games as they finished third in League A Group Two, face their first relegation from the competition's top tier since its creation in 2018.