Fornals and Ferran fire Spain past Kosovo
A first half firecracker from Pablo Fornals and a late strike from Ferran Torres fired Spain to a 2-0 win at Kosovo in Group B of World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022 on Wednesday night at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina.
The Spain victory, along with Sweden’s loss at Greece, now gives La Roja a four-point lead in the group, although with two matches in hand for the Swedes. Nevertheless, Spain now control their destiny as they could finish ahead of Sweden with a home win over the Scandinavians on the final matchday in November.
Coach Luis Enrique made a slew of changes from the starting XI that blew past Georgia on Sunday. Marcos Llorente got the nod again, but this at right-back, while Inigo Martinez and Sergio Reguilon were new inclusions in the back four. Sergio Busquets and Koke earned returns to the starting line-up in midfield, as did Fornals and Alvaro Morata up top.
It was Kosovo who had the brighter start of the two and a lashing shot from outside the area from Elba Rashini served notice to the Spanish defence that it was going to be a much busier night than the one against Georgia.
Spain were having difficulty penetrating the Kosovo area, but that all changed after the half-hour mark when Carlos Soler played a touch pass to Morata, who then fed Fornals and after turning the Kosovo defender, the former Villarreal man unleashed a left-footed rocket that beat Kosovo goalkeeper Muric to hand Spain a 1-0 lead.
Both Soler and Morata had chances to add a second shortly before the break, with the former striking a free-kick that forced a parry from Muric, followed by Morata heading wide on the subsequent corner kick.
Kosovo were hanging tough and should have equalised shortly after the break on a mistake from Inigo Martinez, but Muriqi fired wide of the net to spare the visitors.
The first two changes for Spain came shortly before the hour mark with Soler and Fornals making way for Cesar Azpilicueta and Adama Traore, followed later by Pablo Sarabia for Morata.
Spain were keen to add an insurance goal to avoid a nervy final few minutes and had good looks through headers from Busquets and Ferran Torres, only to see each effort land off-target.
Unai Simon was still keeping busy at the other end and had to get down low quickly to paw away a potential equaliser from Zymer Bytyqi.
The final changes from Luis Enrique were Mikel Merino and Raul Albiol for Llorente and Koke, respectively, but it was Ferran Torres who would polish things off with a late strike that was confirmed by VAR for a 2-0 win.
Match Sheet
0.- Kosovo: Muric, Haderjonaj, Rrhmani, Fazliji, Vojvoda; Loshaj, Dresevic, Bytyqi, Rashani; Rashica, Muriqi.
2.- Spain: Unai Simon; Llorente (Merino, min. 86), Inigo Martinez, Laporte, Reguilon; Busquets, Koke, Soler (Azpilicueta, min. 58); Ferran Torres, Fornals (Traore, min. 58), Morata (Sarabia, min. 72)
Goals: 0-1, min. 32: Fornals; 0-2, min. 89: Ferran Torres
Referee: Bobby Madden (Scotland). Yellow Cards: None
Red cards: None
Stadium: Fadil Vokrri
Attendance: 10,000
Kosovo vs Spain: How Fornal, Torres goals saved Spain
Pablo Fornals netted his first senior international goal as Spain recorded a 2-0 win in Kosovo on Wednesday night.
The West Ham United midfielder opened the scoring with 32 minutes on the clock in Pristina, before Manchester City’s Ferran Torres made the game safe after the break.
It completes a successful international window for Fornals, who won his first caps since 2018 and provided an assist in Spain’s win against Georgia at the weekend too.
With Sweden losing in Greece, Spain also stretched their lead over the Scandinavians to four points at the head of Group B in qualifying for next winter’s FIFA World Cup, although Sweden do have two games in hand.
Moise Kean grabbed his first international goals since March 2019 as Italy thrashed Lithuania 5-0 in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday, as Damian Szymanski’s late header forced England to settle for a draw in Poland.
Italy had drawn their previous two qualifiers to slip into a battle with Switzerland for automatic qualification from Group C.
But the European champions, who set a new world record of 36 internationals unbeaten with the goalless draw against the Swiss at the weekend, produced a dominant display against Lithuania in Reggio Emilia.
Young striker Kean, who rejoined Juventus from Everton in the close-season after a successful loan spell at Paris Saint-Germain, scored twice in the first half.
Edgaras Utkus put through his own net and Giacomo Raspadori also scored as Italy moved four ahead at the break.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo made it five in the second period as Roberto Mancini’s side stretched their lead over Switzerland at the top of the table to six points.
“It was important to have won this game with young players, who played very well, especially in the first half,” Mancini told RAI.
“They (Kean and Raspadori) have a great future, everything will depend on them.”
The Azzurri are hoping to banish the memories of their shock failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
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The Swiss do have two games in hand, but they were held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland in Belfast, with Haris Seferovic having a penalty saved by Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
– England held by Poles –
England, who were beaten by Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley, lost their 100 percent record in qualifying with a 1-1 draw against Poland in Warsaw.
The hosts were second in Group I, five points behind England, before kick-off and frustrated their opponents for long periods.
England captain Harry Kane appeared to have settled a tempestuous affair with 18 minutes remaining, slamming a swerving long-range shot into the bottom corner to score his 41st international goal.
But Szymanski headed home at the back post from Robert Lewandowski’s cross in injury time.
“A tough one to take right at the end,” Kane told ITV. “Sometimes the pressure comes away from home but we are top with four games to go.”
Gareth Southgate’s men are still four points clear of second-placed Albania, who thumped San Marino 5-0 in Tirana.
– Spain win –
Spain’s qualification hopes were under threat heading into their game at Kosovo, but a 2-0 win, coupled with Sweden’s surprise loss to Greece, gave Luis Enrique’s side a much-needed boost.
West Ham United midfielder Pablo Fornal’s 32nd-minute strike and Ferran Torres’ late goal gave the 2010 world champions all three points in Pristina.
Sweden, albeit having played two matches fewer than Spain, slipped four points adrift of their Group B rivals after a 2-1 defeat by the Greeks.
Kosovo vs Spain: Preview, predictions, odds and how to watch European World Cup Qualifiers 2022 in the US today
Kosovo takes on Spain today in Group B action of UEFA World Cup qualifying towards Qatar 2022. The match will be played at Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Kosovo. Here are the full details as to how to watch the game in the US, with preview, information, prediction, and odds.
Spain will look to start assuring themselves at least 1 of the top 2 spots of Group B in European World Cup qualification for Qatar 2022. The Spaniards are looking to continue their winning ways after a 4-0 thrashing of Georgia. For Kosovo it’s an opportunity to get into the fight with a win they could get to 7 points and realistically think about stealing the second spot from Spain or Greece. Here tou will find everything there is to know about this soccer game, such as the preview, information, storylines, predictions, odds and how to watch it in the US.
The match taking place at Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Kosovo, home to FC Prishtina and will begin at roughly 2:45 PM EST and will be televised by ESPN+, UniMás, TUDN USA, Univision NOW, TUDN.com, TUDN App in the United States. For Spain it’s a chance to solidify at least first place until the next round of match days in November.
For Kosovo it could be the start of getting big points as they have a lighter schedule of games before the end of 2021. Kosovo did hold their own against Spain in their last match, although the team fell 3-1.
Kosovo vs Spain: Match Information
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
Time: 2:45 PM (ET)
Location: Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Kosovo
Kosovo vs Spain: Times by State in the US
ET: 2:45 PM
CT: 1:45 PM
MT: 12:45 PM
PT: 11:45 PM
Kosovo vs Spain: Storylines
Kosovo will look towards Lazio striker Vedat Muriqi to lead the team to a huge upset against the 2010 World Cup champions. Napoli defender Amir Rrahman will be key at the back to hold down any Spanish attack as the game progresses.
For Spain they will be without Pau Torres, midfielder Pedri and attackers Dani Olmo and Mikel Oyarzabal. Nonetheless the heavily talented Spanish side should be able to defeat Kosovo even playing away from home. This is the second meeting between Spain and Kosovo, the first was in World Cup qualifying where Spain won 3-1.
How To Watch or Stream Live Kosovo vs Spain in the U.S.
Kosovo vs Spain can be viewed in the United States both on Television and via streaming on ESPN+, UniMás, TUDN USA, Univision NOW, TUDN.com, TUDN App in the United States.
Kosovo vs Spain: Prediction and Odds
As it is expected Kosovo are the heavy underdogs at +1200 while Spain is at -500 a draw is paying out +650 for this game. All odds are provided by DraftKings.
DraftKings Spain -500 Kosovo +1200 Draw +650
*Odds by DraftKings