Kosovo 0-2 Spain: Torres and Fornals keep La Roja top of Group B

Pablo
Fornals’ first
international
goal
from
a
tight
angle
and
Ferran
Torres’
late
strike
proved
the
difference
as
Milot
Rashica
and
Vedat
Muriqi
were
made
to
rue
missed
chances
for
the
hosts.

The
visitors’
loss
against
Sweden
was
their
first
in
World
Cup
qualifying
since
1993
and
ended
a
66-match
unbeaten
run
but
wins
against
Georgia
and
Kosovo
have
got
them
back
on
track.

Luis
Enrique’s
men
sit
four
points
clear
of
Janne
Andersson’s
side,
who
were
beaten
2-1
by
Greece
on
Wednesday,
although
they
have
two
games
in
hand.

After
Koke’s
deflected
shot
brought
the
first
save
from
Arijanet
Muric,
Elbasan
Rashani
fired
narrowly
wide
with
a
curling
left-footed
effort
as
the
hosts
dominated
the
opening
stages.

Fornals
punished
Kosovo
for
not
making
their
dominance
pay,
the
West
Ham
man
blasting
a
left-footed
strike
past
Muric
after
a
smart
turn
following
Alvaro
Morata’s
offload.

Morata
almost
doubled
the
lead
with
a
long-range
attempt
before
Carlos
Soler’s
speculative
free-kick
forced
the
Kosovo
goalkeeper
to
parry
away.

Rashica
offered
Spain
first-half
warnings
running
in
behind
but
they
did
not
learn
their
lesson,
Muriqi
racing
through
one-on-one
with
Unai
Simon
after
the
break
before
dragging
into
the
side-netting.

Torres
then
attempted
a
cute
free-kick,
arrowing
under
the
wall
but
the
wrong
side
of
the
left-hand
post
before
Simon
produced
a
low
reflex
save
against
Zymer
Bytyqi
as
Spain
clung
onto
their
lead.

Torres
added
a
late
finish
of
his
own,
racing
through
and
finding
the
bottom-left
corner,
with
the
goal
standing
after
VAR
reversed
an
initial
offside
decision.

6
–
Ferran
Torres
is
the
first
player
to
score
six
or
more
goals
for
Spain
in
a
calendar
year
(six
in
2021)
since
David
Silva
in
2017
(seven).
Update.

https://t.co/KMXQLunRN1

—
OptaJose
(@OptaJose)

September
8,
2021

What
does
it
mean?
Spain
by
no
means
cruising
in
Group
B

Luis
Enrique’s
men
had
won
only
one
of
their
previous
nine
away
fixtures,
including
friendlies,
in
all
competitions
but
Wednesday’s
performance
ended
that
poor
run
of
form
on
the
road.

Spain
have
coasted
past
Kosovo
and
Georgia
by
an
aggregate
score
of
6-0
and
now
hold
a
four-point
advantage
over
second-place
Sweden,
who
now
have
Greece
just
three
points
behind
them.

Kosovo,
in
contrast,
responded
well
to
a
timid
start
in
World
Cup
qualifying
but
failed
to
extend
their
unbeaten
run
to
three
games,
leaving
them
in
fourth
with
four
points.

Super
Soler

Despite
being
withdrawn
in
the
58th
minute,
Soler
stood
out
as
one
of
the
visitors’ key
performers.

Against
Georgia,
he
became
only
the
second
player
since
2006
to
score
in
their
two
opening
games
for
Spain
and
he
followed
up
in
similar
fashion,
recording
a
game-high
five
key
passes.

The
Valencia
midfielder
also
misplaced
just
three
of
his
43
passes,
while
also
winning
a
team-high
three
fouls
alongside
Sergio
Busquets.

Misfiring
Muriqi

Muriqi
wasted
Kosovo’s
best
chance
as
he
slammed
wide
when
set
free
one-on-one
with
Simon
and
after
scoring
in
back-to-back
games
he
will
have
been
frustrated
to
not
convert.

The
forward
also
misplaced
half
of
his
18
passes,
losing
possession
17
times
as
he
completed
just
27.3
per
cent
of
his
11
opposition-half
passes.

What’s
next?

Spain
face
Italy
in
the
Nations
League
semi-final
in
October
before
travelling
to
Greece
for
their
next
qualifier
the
following
month.
Kosovo
make
the
trip
to
Sweden
on
October
9.