There were three goals scored by Morata, Fabian Ruiz, and Carvajal as Spain kicked off their Euro campaign with a 3-0 victory over Croatia.
Spain has done an outstanding job of climbing to the top of Group B, and it was precisely this kind of performance that gave the impression that the team would be able to compete for the championship this summer.
Despite the fact that Spain, who won the European Championship in 1964, 2008, and 2012, has not been considered one of the favorites to win in Germany, they performed exceptionally well in the first game of their competition, and Croatia was unable to match their level of performance.
Croatia believed that they had given themselves an opportunity to make a late comeback through Bruno Petkovic, but his attempt, which came after he missed a penalty, was disallowed for offside, and La Roja managed to retain a clean sheet.
As a result of a little muscular ailment that Aymeric Laporte was experiencing, Nacho was given the opportunity to start in the midst of the Spain defense. On the other hand, Marc Cucurella was selected to play left back rather than Alex Grimaldo.
As for Croatia, Zlatko Dalic’s team was led by Luka Modric, who is 38 years old, and Josko Gvardiol, who was playing for Manchester City, was a notable choice after having an outstanding season for the English champions.
In the 22nd minute, Croatia had their first opportunity to score, as Ante Budimir got ahead of Robin Le Normand inside the Spain box. However, his header was always moving over the crossbar, and Croatia was unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
The breakthrough occurred in the 29th minute, and it was a fantastic finish from Morata. The forward raced onto a feed from Rodri, and then he expertly sent the ball past the head of the Croatian goalie.
Mateo Kovacic’s shot from outside the box was saved by Unai Simon, the goalkeeper for Spain, despite the fact that Croatia nearly immediately responded to the situation.
La Roja then increased their advantage in the 32nd minute, when Ruiz showed superb footwork in a tight area and smashed a shot into the back of the net. This allowed La Roja to extend their lead to two goals.
During the subsequent time of the contest, Simon was able to prevent Marcelo Brozovic from scoring while Lovro Majer was able to smash the rebound into the side netting. This occurred during a moment of the match that was quite open.
Gvardiol fired a shot towards the far post late in the first period, but Brozovic just failed to make touch with it. Spain then scored a third goal in the first half stoppage time, with Carvajal converting a magnificent Yamal cross into the back of the net from close range. Croatia came close to scoring another late in the first period.
Within the first few minutes of the second period, the outstanding Yamal came near to scoring himself, but the diving goalkeeper for Croatia was able to magnificently prevent his low strike from going in.
Then, in the 55th minute, Croatia was unable to score for some reason, as Cucurella was able to prevent Josip Stanisic from scoring at the far post. Following a spell of pinball, Spain was able to clear their lines.
A penalty shot was awarded to Dalic’s team in the 78th minute when Rodri dragged Petkovic to the ground as a result of a mistake made by Spain’s goalie Simon. Petkovic’s penalty attempt was saved by the La Roja keeper, but it was squared back into the striker, who eventually got the ball into the back of the net.
His goal was disallowed for offside, which summed up what was a terrible opening matchday for the third-placed team at the 2022 World Cup. However, the Croatian fans experienced even greater anger as a result of this decision.
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