Spain, the reigning World Cup champions, continued their winning run with a 3-1 victory over visiting Czechia on Saturday in the third round of the League A group stage of the UEFA Nations League.
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The “La Roja” strengthened their lead at the top of Group C with nine points, three ahead of England, who thrashed Croatia 7-0 earlier.
Spain took control in the first half through goals from Lamine Yamal in the sixth minute and Rodri in the 35th, with little response from the visitors.
The Czechs attempted to fight back after the break and eventually pulled a goal back through Jiří Sláma, who fired a low close-range shot following a pass from Adam Hložek in the 69th minute.
The goal came after Spain coach Luis de la Fuente made four substitutions, which appeared to weaken the team following the departures of Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo and Álex Baena.
As Spain’s performance declined, Czechia came close to scoring a second when Ryan Naderi found the net after a costly mistake by goalkeeper David Raya. However, the referee ruled out the goal for a foul during the build-up in the 80th minute.
Czechia were reduced to 10 men after Ladislav Krejčí was sent off for receiving two yellow cards within six minutes in the 85th minute.
Spain’s substitute Mikel Merino then sealed the victory in the 89th minute with a powerful shot from inside the box after following up on a save by goalkeeper Antonín Kinský from another substitute, Víctor Muñoz.
The victory further underlined Spain’s historical dominance over Czechia, with Spain now having won six of their eight meetings, with the other two ending in draws.
