Switzerland, with ten men, took the game to penalties, but failed there and the Spaniards went on

Switzerland’s second match in the European Championship play-offs was also decided in a penalty shootout. This time to their disadvantage, as they converted only one of their four attempts. The Spaniards scored three penalties and are therefore moving on.

The Spaniards took the lead from the first chance of the match. A centred ball found Jordi Alba and, with the help of a defender’s run, he put the ball in the net. In the 18th minute, Koke tried a direct kick, but missed it by a whisker.

In the 26th minute, César Azpilicueta headed home a shot, but Yann Sommer made the save. The Swiss made the first response in the 34th minute, but Manuel Akanji headed over. That was the last chance of the first half and the Spanish went into the box with a 1-0 lead.

In the 51st minute, Xherdan Shaqiri tried a corner but only headed into the side netting. Five minutes later, Denis Zakaria headed home a shot that missed the left post by inches.

The Swiss were active, with Steven Zuber shooting in the 64th minute, but Unai Simón made the save. Four minutes later, the game was level. After a mistake by the Spanish defence, the ball came to Shaqiri, who sent it to the back post.

In the 77th, the Swiss made things difficult for themselves, going down to ten after a nasty tackle by Remo Freuler. In the 85th minute, Ferran Torres tried to take advantage of a power play, but his attempt was only headed into the middle of the goal.

With no more goals, the game went into overtime. In the 93rd minute Gerrard Moreno had a scoring chance, but he missed the net. In the 100th minute, Sommer was brilliant when he saved a shot from Moreno.

In the 110th minute, Dani Olmo shot, but Sommer again made the save. Mönchengladbach’s goalkeeper continued to shine and the match went to a penalty shootout.

The shootout was not a goal scorer’s day, with five of the first eight players failing to score and Mikel Oyarzabal deciding the Spaniards’ progress in the fifth.

Source: UEFA EURO 2020