Kepa Arrizabalaga emerged as a hero in Spain’s win over Romania when he made a superb save in the last-minute to ensure his country made it five wins from five with a tense victory (1-2) over the hosts in Group F.
He was declared Man of the Match by Football Espana for a great all round display capped with key saves and a fantastic intuitive stop with his legs right at the end to rescue his nation.
Kepa denied Reading striker George Puscas with his legs as 10-man Spain recorded a first win in Romania.
The Chelsea goalkeeper- who has replaced Manchester United’s David de Gea as first choice – made sure Spain took the points when he reacted superbly to stop Puscas’ header from close range.
In a game full of incident and high tension, goals from a penalty by Captain Sergio Ramos after a foul on Dani Ceballos and Paco Alcácer were enough to secure a hard fought victory over hosts Romania in Bucharest.
As Spain dropped their intensity and rhythm, the hosts rallied and responded with a goal by substitute Florin Andone and soon after Spain defender Diego Llorente was sent off as Spain were put on the rack in a game they were relatively comfortable in.
However, Spain showed enough composure and effective game management to take the sting out of the game and see the game out, thanks largely to their Arrizabalaga who produced a fantastic display between the posts.
Spain, adopting a 4-3-3 attacking formation, dominated for the majority of exchanges – creating 20 shot to their opponents 7 with an on the whole upwardly mobile, confident and positive performance.
La Roja showed some nice interplay and all the hallmarks of their identity which has enabled them to secure all 15 points so far in their Group F Euro 2020 group campaign.
Before the match, Spain had never won in Romania but banished that record with collecting the three points. However, Spain did make life hard for themselves not to put the game to bed earlier.
Ramos scored his 12th penalty for Spain and is their top scorer in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with four goals to his name.
Spain: Kepa, Alba, Ramos, Llorente, Navas, Ñíguez, Busquets, Fabián, Ceballos, Alcácer, Rodrigo.
Substitutes: Oyarzabal (71), Sarabia (76) and Hermoso (84).
Romania: Tatarusanu, Tosca, Grigore, Chiriches, Nedelcearu, Benzar, Stanciu, Marin, Ioan Deac, Puscas, Keseru.
Substitutes: Andone (56), Hagi (63), Maxim (71).
Photo Credit: Twitter @ Selección Española de Fútbol