Football: Ruthless England leaves Spain in shock of Nations League

SEVILLE (Reuters) – England had a riot by scoring three goals in the first half to stun Spain and impose 3-2 away in the League of Nations on Monday. , while she was returning to Group 4 of Ligue A with her first win on Spanish soil for 31 years.

Raheem Sterling gave the advantage to England in the 16th minute at the end of the match, ending a quick counter-attack. Marcus Rashford opened the scoring in the top corner for the second in half an hour after a superb pass from captain Harry Kane.

Sterling, who had not scored a goal for three years in England, has again marked Kane's assistance to give Gareth Southgate's team a big lead against Spain, who had scored 12 goals in their tournament. last three games and beat England 2-1 last month.

After an error by Jordan Pickford, the Spaniard Paco Alcacer gave the advantage to his team, but the goalkeeper managed to gain the advantage over Rodrigo Moreno, forcing the goalkeeper to score.

Captain Sergio Ramos got a second for Spain with a diving header in the eighth minute of extra time with the last action of the match, leaving his team their first defeat in 90 minutes since their 2-0 win over Italy at Euro 2016.

"It was incredible, Spain is probably one of the most fit teams in the world, but we knew we could beat them and we came out of the blocks pulling," said the English captain Kane. "The second half was difficult, but we defended well and absorbed the pressure."

Spain are leading the group with six points after three games, while England is second on four, leaving Croatia in last place with one point while the World Cup finalists have one less match.

YOUNG ENGLAND

Gareth Southgate lined up the youngest English team in his 11th century debut and his team had to face many early Spanish attacks in a crowded Benito Villamarin stadium in Seville. Pickford used his head to thwart Marcos Alonso.

England took the lead thanks to a quick break between Kane, Sterling and Rashford. The three strikers had their footprints on all three goals, which prompted local fans to boo their team off the pitch.

Sterling and his company were helped by the aggressive pressure of their teammates, which disrupted Spain, a team usually also comfortable with possession of the ball, but which suddenly made the ball at an alarming frequency.

Luis Enrique's men had a different perspective in the second period and continued to threaten Pickford's goal. Marco Asensio was sending the ball off and Alonso was heading against the bar just before Ramos hit, but England was hanging on to win his first win in Spain since Gary. Victory 4-2 inspired by Lineker in 1987.

"The normal thing would have been to kill the players at half-time, but I tried to keep their spirits up and told them that a lot of top teams had recently suffered," said Luis Enrique. .

"We pushed them back in the second half and it's a shame we did not score the second goal earlier, because our fans would have scored the third goal by themselves."