Oyarzabal sinks England as Spain punish Kane's penalty miss in Wembley thriller
Thomas Tuchel's England let another lead slip and lost again — but this time, the Wembley crowd could not find it in themselves to be angry. England were beaten 3-2 by Spain in their Nations League opener, and yet the overriding feeling was one of acceptance. England were game. Spain, at times, played football from a different stratosphere.
There is a reason Spain won the World Cup in the summer and the European Championship before that. They are the best team in the international game by a distance. Nobody can live with them. England did well to stay within a puncher's chance of a result; Jude Bellingham was still throwing them forward in stoppage time. Crucially, as Tuchel and England try to look forward after the heartbreak of the World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina, there was no negativity from the Wembley crowd — even in the face of defending that was dreadfully loose. There were none of the dreaded boos at the full-time whistle.
Yamal strikes in two minutes
Spain had been fantastic for the opening 30 minutes and Lamine Yamal needed just two of them. The goal was a personal disaster for Marc Guéhi: facing upfield as he tried to build from deep with his passing lanes blocked, the Manchester City defender checked back and walked straight into Yamal, who robbed him and finished past James Trafford with ease.
Tuchel had started Trafford ahead of Jordan Pickford, a major deviation from his stated intention of continuity from the World Cup. Pickford was erratic in the summer and was punished for some of his mistakes, while Trafford has been outstanding for Leeds since joining them over the summer. Tuchel's plan is to share the minutes between the two goalkeepers this window — and Trafford helped keep England in the game, making a big one-on-one block against Ferran Torres after Yamal's through-ball, before Torres blew another one-on-one on 28 minutes. Dani Olmo rifled just wide after a sumptuous Yamal flick.
Gordon and Kane turn it around
England's resistance was impressive, with Anthony Gordon and Bellingham to the fore. When Spain pushed only for Nico Williams to lose his footing and the ball to reach Elliot Anderson, England swept forward in thrilling style — Gordon flicked to Bellingham, got it back and surged in on goal, the low finish nerveless.
Enter Kane. He was unlucky when he banged inches wide from the edge of the area after a Bukayo Saka burst, and lucky when his header from a Nico O'Reilly cross — which Unai Simón looked to have covered — drew a panicked reaction from Marc Cucurella, who jutted out his thigh to turn the ball past his goalkeeper. Cucurella's fates stayed against him: his mishit cross on 45 minutes sailed over Trafford and came back off the far post.
Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder, was in the mood for La Liga bragging rights, and it was his persistence after another surge that won the penalty: Gordon played the pass back inside, Bellingham got there before Rodri, who hung out a leg. After a review, the contact trumped the feeling that the England player had tried to engineer it. But Kane could not convert — his standing foot gave way in the turf and he hit the crossbar. Had he scored to make it 3-1, the story might have been different.
Baena and Oyarzabal make it count
Back came Spain. Yamal pushed a shot wide after a give-and-go with the substitute Álex Baena, whose backheel was beautiful. Then Baena equalised after O'Reilly gave away the ball and Olmo shifted it quickly to the edge of the area, where Baena bought himself space with an expert drop of the shoulder. Saka curled just wide at the other end, but the tide had turned.
Luis de la Fuente's attack-minded changes worked, and it was another substitute, Mikel Oyarzabal, who made the difference from a Baena pass, a dinked finish that was impudently brilliant. "Campeones" rang out from the travelling enclosure before kick-off, and by the end the visiting radio commentators' fervour had been fully justified. It was a statement of intent, an illustration of Spain's remorseless desire — and England could have no complaints.