Nations League: Spain beats Germany, Croatia 2-3 Portugal



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Manchester City forward Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick as Spain defeated Germany 6-0, while Portugal was late to beat Croatia 3-2.

Álvaro Morata broke the deadlock in the 17th minute with a high header off the back post from a corner, but then saw another effort from close range ruled out by a debatable offside decision.

Manchester City winger Torres made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute when he blew the ball after a header from Dani Olmo hit the crossbar.

Germany, who had only needed a draw to win the group, fell further behind just five minutes later when City midfielder Rodri nodded from a corner.

Spain captain Sergio Ramos, who saw two saved penalties against Switzerland, was forced to retire shortly before halftime with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

It was 4-0 after 54 minutes when Spanish left-back José Gaya took advantage of an unusual wayward German defense to set up another for Torres.

The City winger completed his hat-trick with 18 minutes to go when he fired a shot for the first time at Manuel Neuer.

Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal knocked out in a sixth final to complete a memorable victory for La Roja.

The drop in the group is yet to be decided after Switzerland’s clash with Ukraine in Lucerne was canceled following more positive Covid-19 tests at the visitor camp.

France had already secured their place in the quarter-final tournament and ended their A3 campaign with a 4-2 win over Sweden, which are relegated to League B.

Sweden had taken an early lead at the Stade de France thanks to a deflected shot from Viktor Claesson in the fourth minute.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud soon leveled, before right-back Benjamin Pavard made it 2-1 in the 36th minute after a shot from Marcus Thuram was blocked.

Substitute Kylian Mbappé prepared Giroud to return home his second before time.

Robin Quaison gave the Swedes some belated comfort, but Kingsley Coman was only a few minutes behind when he scored a fourth for Les Bleus in injury time.

Portugal, the inaugural Nations League champion, scored a late goal from Manchester City defender Ruben Dias to sign off a 3-2 win over Croatia, which ended with 10 men in Split.

Mateo Kovacic put the hosts ahead when he regained a rebound in the 29th minute, but Croatia, who could have been relegated if the results were against them, had Marko Rog sent off for a second caution shortly after the restart.

Manchester City defender Dias drew his first international goal in the 52nd minute, and Joao Félix added a second for Portugal in the hour.

Kovacic took second place in the World Cup five minutes later, but Dias sealed the victory for Portugal when he took advantage of a fumble from the Croatian goalkeeper.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Montenegro secured promotion as the winner of Group C1 after a 4-0 win over Cyprus, which is relegated, while Luxembourg and Azerbaijan drew goalless.

Gibraltar moves up from D2 after a 1-1 draw at home against Liechtenstein, while the Faroe Islands are also poised to advance to League C after a 1-1 draw away in Malta put them on top of the league. D1.

Latvia beat Andorra 5-0, who finished with 10 men and sits at the bottom of D1.

England chased almost all of the top Premier League players without limits. And only four of them were English.



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