Schmeichel caught off guard in Zubimendi’s 1-0 Spain win over Denmark

MURCIA, Spain (Reuters) – Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was left red-faced as a second-half goal from midfielder Martin Zubimendi gave injury-hit Spain a hard-fought and deserved 1-0 victory in Group A4 of the Nations League, on Saturday.

Without seven of the starters who beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July, Spain dominated the game from the start, but it was only in the 79th minute that they managed to find the winner, when Zubimendi scored his first goal for the club. your country.

The Real Sociedad midfielder fired a first-time shot from the edge of the box which deflected off a defender before squirming under Schmeichel, who should have avoided it.

Spain top the group at mid-point with seven points from three games, followed by Denmark on six and Serbia on four, with Switzerland bottom with no points.

“We are very happy, especially in such a tight game where we had to go deep to open the scoring,” Zubimendi told TVE.

“In the first half we didn’t play our best football, we left some open spaces in the defense that they exploited and could have hurt us, but we corrected that in the second half, we trapped them and got the job done.”

Spain were without Dani Carvajal and Rodri due to serious knee injuries, while key players such as Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand were also absent.

They controlled the game, but were wasteful, wasting several chances to open the scoring, and were exposed on the counterattack, with goalkeeper David Raya making two brilliant saves from Kasper Dolberg’s shots.

Zubimendi and Alex Grimaldo missed promising half-chances early in the game, while captain Alvaro Morata missed some clear opportunities later on.

The hosts should have led at half-time but Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal missed an easy chance in the final action of the first half when he received a pass from Pedro Porro on his way forward but sent the ball over the post.

Spain came out more lively in the second half and took the lead with a little help from Schmeichel, who made two magnificent saves to deny Morata’s close-range shots.

However, as the ball was released into the box, Schmeichel appealed for what he considered to be a Mikel Merino foul on Victor Nelsson and was caught off guard when Zubimendi’s shot deflected off a defender’s heel and slipped out of the goalkeeper’s hands. networks distracted.