Spain 2-2 Morocco: Iago Aspas snatches late VAR-assisted equaliser

It’s going to be a long climb to the top of the world, if Spain are going to get there.

The extraordinary closing moments of this group’s fixtures took them top, avoiding Uruguay, but it took 93rd minute VAR decision, overruling a linesman’s offside call and awarding Iago Aspas a goal, to avoid a humiliation here. They will be glad to face the Russians in Moscow on Saturday but they will need to lift their level if they are to travel far.

There’s not always been much love between the Spanish and Moroccans, who’ve been at odds over a couple of enclaves on Africa’s Mediterranean coast for years, and that certainly extended to the pitch as the game began. 

Iago Aspas scored a late equaliser for Spain as they topped the Group on a dramatic night of action in Kaliningrad

The striker came off the bench to replace Diego Costa and made a crucial impact to against the resilient Moroccans 

The striker came off the bench to replace Diego Costa and made a crucial impact to against the resilient Moroccans 

Initially Aspas had been ruled offside but the referee corrected his original decision to rightly award a goal 

Initially Aspas had been ruled offside but the referee corrected his original decision to rightly award a goal 

The replays clearly showed Aspas to be level with the last defender and fortunately for Spain the right call was made

The replays clearly showed Aspas to be level with the last defender and fortunately for Spain the right call was made

MATCH FACTS: 

Spain (4-3-2-1): 

De Gea 8; Carvajal 6, Pique 6, Ramos 6.5, Alba 6; Busquets 5.5, Thiago 6 (Ascencio 74 6); Silva 6 (Rodrigo 85), Iniesta 7.5, Isco 8; Costa 5.5 (Aspas 74 6.5)

Manager: F Hierro 5.5

Goals: Isco (19), Aspas (90+1)  

Morocco (4-2-3-1):

El Kajoui 6; Hakimi 6, Da Costa 6.5, Saiss, Ziyach 6.5 (Bouhaddouz 85); El Ahmadi 6, Boussoufa 6; Amrabat 6.5, Belhanda 6 (Fajr 63), Ziyech 6; Boutaib 7 (En Nesyri 70)

Manager: H Renard 7

Bookings: Mohamedi, Da Costa, Hakimi, El Ahmadi, Amrabat, Boussoufa

Goals: Boutaïb (14), En-Nesyri (81)

Referee: R Irmatov

Attendance: 33,973

Match rating: 7  

The Moroccans’ game plan – kick a Spaniard – was deeply unedifying and five of their players were booked before barely half an hour was out.

More unexpected, though, was the elite nation’s own combustibility. 

The Moroccan hostility seemed to have an effect. Less lenient referees would have sent Gerard Pique from the pitch for his two-footed tackle on Khalid Boutaid early on. 

He’d left the ground when he leapt into the tackle, though Younes Belhanda’s challenge on Andres Iniesta could also have incurred red.

There was a moment of extraordinary Spanish floundering in front of defence, too, when Iniesta’s heavy touch on a ball barely 15 minutes in left him and Sergio Ramos dithering over who should take control and retrieve the situation. 

Each left the task for the other, resulting in Boutaid seizing the ball, sprinting through 20 yards with it, and just about managing to tuck away through David de Gea’s legs.

Iniesta and Ramos slapped hands, as if to say that these things happen, though there was an insecurity about the back line which could have seen Boutaib finish a second time. 

Youssed En-Nesyri jumped high above Sergio Ramos to plant a thumping header into the net but it was not enough 

Youssed En-Nesyri jumped high above Sergio Ramos to plant a thumping header into the net but it was not enough 

Spain looked shell-shocked as they trudged back to halfway with the Moroccans celebrating going ahead

Spain looked shell-shocked as they trudged back to halfway with the Moroccans celebrating going ahead

Isco had pulled Spain back on level terms with a wonderfully composed finish into the top of the net from close range

Isco had pulled Spain back on level terms with a wonderfully composed finish into the top of the net from close range

Andres Iniesta teed his team-mates up with a well-timed cutback and the Real Madrid man needed no second invitation

Andres Iniesta teed his team-mates up with a well-timed cutback and the Real Madrid man needed no second invitation

Spain took just five minutes to haul themselves back into the match after suffering the shock of going behind

Spain took just five minutes to haul themselves back into the match after suffering the shock of going behind

He was staring into the whites of de Gea’s again after 25 minutes, having run onto nothing more complicated than a throw-in over the top into the space where Dani Carvajal should have occupied. De Gea stood firm and blocked with his knee.

But for all the imperfections, the side who aspire to travel far in this tournament offered frequent glimpses of sublimity: football to take your breath away. 

They’d equalised out the shock opener inside five minutes, through a fine piece of passing architecture – give quick exchanges between Iniesta, Isco and Diego Costa, which concluded with Isco tapping the ball home. And they should have put the North Africans out of sight.

Iniesta ran the game, permitted time and space Moroccans to find the little pockets and to exploit them. Costa, struggling to make a major impact, could not fully connect on a probing cross from the 34-year-old, though it was Sergio Busquets who spurned the bigger chance, heading over from Isco’s corner when heading it in had seemed easier.

La Roja worked a brilliant team move down the left flank before Isco gave it the tidy finish it deserved 

La Roja worked a brilliant team move down the left flank before Isco gave it the tidy finish it deserved 

Khalid Boutaïb (left) celebrates with Hakim Ziyach (centre) and Younes Belhanda after scoring the first goal of the game

Khalid Boutaïb (left) celebrates with Hakim Ziyach (centre) and Younes Belhanda after scoring the first goal of the game

The forward squeezed his effort through the legs of David de Gea after bursting through on goal from around halfway

The forward squeezed his effort through the legs of David de Gea after bursting through on goal from around halfway

The whole Morocco squad came together in celebration after the underdogs took an unlikely lead in the match

The whole Morocco squad came together in celebration after the underdogs took an unlikely lead in the match

The game belonged to Spain for long spells in the first half, though the front line rarely looked incisive. An Isco header was cleared off the line by Ghanem Saiss, David Silva struck at the keeper at short range after another exchange of eight passes but there was no razor edge to the Spanish team.

Costa was a marginal presence, turning one ball around the corner neatly for Thiago whose finish was wild. But Monir El Kajoui in the goal was rarely troubled.

The Moroccans looked more potent when they threatened Noureddine Amrabat had crashed against the bar just after half time and substitute Youssef En-Nesyri stunned the Spanish, rising above Ramos to power home a header nine minutes from time.

But there were to be two more twists. Isco’s cross was flicked in by Aspas, played onside by Mbark Boussafa, and then Iran’s late equaliser, yielding an outcome that Spain cannot say they deserved. 

Boutaib pinched the ball off Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta before sprinting clear of the defence to score

Boutaib pinched the ball off Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta before sprinting clear of the defence to score

Boutaib had another great opportunity after the defence was caught out by a quick through it but De Gea made the save

Boutaib had another great opportunity after the defence was caught out by a quick through it but De Gea made the save

The Morocco players furiously appeal for a handball and replays showed they had a case but the referee denied them

The Morocco players furiously appeal for a handball and replays showed they had a case but the referee denied them

Kaliningrad Stadium played host on a balmy night and both sets of fans generated a superb atmosphere

Kaliningrad Stadium played host on a balmy night and both sets of fans generated a superb atmosphere

De Gea manages to punch clear under severe pressure from Mbark Boussoufa who closes his eyes at the last second

De Gea manages to punch clear under severe pressure from Mbark Boussoufa who closes his eyes at the last second

Nordin Amrabat struck the post with a brilliant effort from range that had the goalkeeper rooted to the spot 

Nordin Amrabat struck the post with a brilliant effort from range that had the goalkeeper rooted to the spot 

Sergio Ramos and Nordin Amrabat clash after an ill-tempered start to the game is punctuated by a physical challenge

Sergio Ramos and Nordin Amrabat clash after an ill-tempered start to the game is punctuated by a physical challenge



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