Spain survived an almighty scare to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 by beating Croatia in extra time in a high-drama eight-goal thriller.
Croatia substitutes Mislav Orsic and Mario Pasalic forced extra time with two goals in five minutes but Spain regrouped to score twice after 90 minutes and seal passage from one of the tournament’s standout ties.
Striker Alvaro Morata put Spain ahead in extra time in Copenhagen and Mikel Oyarzabal then added a fifth goal three minutes later to finally see off Croatia, who fought back from 3-1 down in normal time when they looked out.
Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon failed to control Pedri’s 49-yard back pass to gift Croatia the lead but Pablo Sarabia equalised just before half-time and Cesar Azpilicueta headed in another before Ferran Torres made it 3-1 late on.
It appeared Spain were coasting to a comfortable victory but Croatia burst into action late on to force added time.
Simon made up for his earlier error with a heroic stop from close range to deny Andrej Kramaric before Morata went up the other end to score for Spain.
It was the second highest-scoring game in Euros history and three-time champions Spain will face the winner of France and Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
