Unai Simon Saves Two Penalties In Shootout Win For La Roja

Spain are through to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 after outlasting Switzerland 3-1 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in their quarter-final on Friday evening at Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon came up with two saves in the spot-kicks, while Mikel Oyarzabal coolly converted the winning penalty to send La Roja into the final four of the tournament.

An own goal gave Spain a dream start, but a defensive error led to an equaliser for the Swiss. A Switzerland red card for Remo Freuler tilted things in favour of Spain, but they were unable to take advantage and were left frustrated by a superb display from Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer. In the end though, Spain kept their nerve in the shootout to punch their semi-final ticket.

Head coach Luis Enrique made two changes from the starting XI that took the pitch against Croatia last Monday, as Pau Torres came in for Eric Garcia, while Jordi Alba replaced Jose Gaya in an effort to better stymie the Swiss aerial attack.

Spain could not have asked for a brighter start and grabbed a 0-1 lead when a Jordi Alba effort from distance took a deflection off of Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria and caromed into the Swiss net.

Spain continued to dominate, peppering Sommer in the Swiss goal with an array of shots, including a Cesar Azpilicueta header that required a reaction save.

The first change came during the break, with Dani Olmo on for Pablo Sarabia, followed shortly thereafter by Gerard Moreno on for the quiet Alvaro Morata.

Switzerland came out with more urgency to begin the second stanza and Zakaria came within inches of making up for his earlier error with a header off a corner kick that bounced just wide. Later on in the half, Unai Simon had to make a big save to prevent Steven Zuber from equalising off a pass from Ruben Vargas.

An error in the back had gifted Croatia their opener against Spain in the previous round and another mistake from the Spanish defence allowed the Swiss to pull level 1-1 midway through the second half. A mix-up from Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres resulted in the ball falling to the feet of Remo Freuler, who quickly fed Xherdan Shaqiri and the finish went right through the legs of Azpilicueta and past Unai Simon to make it 1-1.

But the dynamic of the match took a strong turn in Spain’s favour with a quarter-hour left to play when English referee Michael Oliver brandished a red card to Freuler after his challenge on Gerard Moreno.

Luis Enrique went back to his bench for some midfield help, with Marcos Llorente on for Koke and then Oyarzabal for Ferran Torres, as play drifted into extra time.

In the extra frame, Gerard Moreno was presented with two gilt-edged chances to put Spain back ahead, but first missed wide from five yards out and then was snuffed out by Sommer right in front of goal.

The Swiss defensive show continued with a stretch save from Sommer to deny Oyarzabal, followed by Ricardo Rodriguez’s extended leg blocking a Llorente effort inside the area.

Thiago was summoned from the bench to add more punch in place of defender Pau Torres, but it made no difference. There was simply no way past Sommer and the Swiss defence, forcing La Roja into the roulette of penalties.

From the spot, Unai Simon would come through with two huge stops and Oyarzabal was able to finally settle things to give Spain the 3-1 shootout win and a berth in the semi-finals.

Match Sheet:

1 (1). – Switzerland: Sommer; Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer (Mbabu, min. 100), Freuler, Zakaria (Schar, min. 100), Zuber (Fassnacht, min. 90+2), Shaqiri (Sow, min. 81), Embolo (Vargas, min. 23), Seferovic (Gavranovic, min. 82).

1 (3). – Spain: Unai Simon; Azpilicueta, Laporte, Pau Torres (Thiago, min. 113), Jordi Alba; Busquets, Koke (Marcos Llorente, min. 90+1), Pedri (Rodri, min. 119); Sarabia (Dani Olmo, min. 46), Ferran (Oyarzabal, min. 91), Morata (Gerard Moreno, min. 55).

Goals: 0-1, min. 8: Zakaria (og); 1-1, min. 68: Shaqiri.

Referee: Michael Oliver (England).

Yellow cards: Widmer (Min. 67) for Switzerland, Laporte (Min. 90+3) for Spain, Gavranovic (Min. 121) for Switzerland.

Red cards: Freuler (Min. 77) for Switzerland.

Stadium: Krestovsky.

Attendance: 30,000.