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Spain ease to victory over Serbia
European champions Spain claimed a place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 3-0 home win over Serbia thanks to goals by Aymeric Laporte, Alvaro Morata and Alex Baena on Tuesday.
With two games left, Spain have secured at least a second-place finish as they top League A Group Four with 10 points, three ahead of Denmark and six clear of Serbia, with Switzerland bottom on one point after a 2-2 home draw with the Danes.
Spain were missing several players from the team that beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July but still outclassed Serbia with 30 shots against three from the visitors.
Defender Laporte gave the Spaniards the lead with a close-range header in the fifth minute and Morata, who missed a penalty in the 54th, extended Spain's lead with a strike from just inside the box after 65 minutes.
Serbia's Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Mikel Oyarzabal on the edge of the area in the 78th and Baena curled a delightful free kick into the top corner to wrap up an easy victory for Spain.
"We are in another final stage of a major tournament and that is something to be proud of," captain Morata told Spanish public television TVE.
"It seems easy because we are always there in the final stages but sure it isn't so we have to understand how special it is and give it the proper value it has.
"We have several injured players, we missed them but we have to look at the positives that are young players stepping up. What we have created is special and we have to keep going forward. Spain has an incredible future."
After beating Denmark 1-0 on Saturday without Dani Carvajal and Rodri due to serious knee injuries, and with key players like Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand also absent, Luis de la Fuente's side faced Serbia also minus teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who got injured against the Danes.
But his depleted team did miss a beat as they easily handled Serbia and secure a third successive Group A4 win to clinch a top-two finish and become the second team to book a quarter-final place after Germany who qualified on Monday.
After Laporte headed the opener from a cross by Pedro Porro, Spain wasted several chances, including a penalty for handball by Veljko Birmancevic that Morata blasted over the bar.
It was not until 20 minutes into the second half that they extended their lead as Morata slotted home first-time with the inside of his left foot after a neat through ball from Fabian Ruiz before Baena wrapped up the win with a terrific free-kick.
Portugal close in on quarters with Scotland draw
Portugal all but sealed a berth in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 0-0 draw away to Scotland on Tuesday, the first points Roberto Martinez's side have dropped in their four games.
The Portuguese remain top of Group A1 with 10 points, three ahead of Croatia, who drew 3-3 away to Poland, while the Scots are bottom on one point. The third-placed Poles have four points with the top two in the group moving into the last eight.
Martinez said his men were missing "a bit of magic in the area".
"We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," the Spanish manager told Sport TV. "It was a dangerous game because we could have had possession, but Scotland needed very little to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the final third."
Portugal were on the front foot for most of the night but squandered chances including a sitter early in the second half for Cristiano Ronaldo, who had scored in their previous three games. Unmarked in the box, he put a diving header over the bar.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo earned another ironic cheer from Scotland's "Tartan Army" when he sent a bicycle kick wide.
Asked if Portugal lacked a Plan B, Martinez said: "Our talent, our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E.
"We have players on the inside, on the outside, we're talking about a team that didn't take risks, that defended very well. We're talking about a team (Portugal) that got into the final third 53 times. We have to give credit to Scotland and to ourselves for managing to keep a clean sheet."
The hosts also had chances on a night when they were plagued by careless turnovers as Scott McTominay narrowly missed with a header before the game was five minutes old.
Ben Doak laid the ball back to Andy Robertson and the captain found the unmarked McTominay with a pinpoint cross but the midfielder headed it straight at goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
Scotland keeper Craig Gordon made a handful of terrific saves in the dying minutes against a swarming Portugal side.
The Hampden Park crowd erupted when Gordon dived to block a shot from Bruno Fernandes and then corralled the ball before Ronaldo could get there for the rebound.
Right back Nicky Devlin came on for his Scotland debut in the 89th and was pressed into action minutes later when he made a brilliant block to deny Rafael Leao.
Ronaldo was irate at the final whistle when he was denied the chance to take a corner with the clock having ticked past four added minutes. He ranted to the referee and gave the home fans a double thumbs-down before storming off the pitch.
At least a draw at home to Poland on Nov. 15 would guarantee Portugal a place in the knockout round before they visit Croatia three days later in their final group game.
While a point snapped Scotland's four-game losing run, they have gone 10 games without a victory in competitive matches.
"It's not about turning a corner," Scotland boss Steve Clarke told reporters. "It's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight."
Poland fight back for thrilling draw with Croatia
Poland fought back from two goals down to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw with visitors Croatia in an action-packed Nations League encounter on Tuesday.
Croatia, who fell behind early, had taken a stranglehold on the game with three goals in seven first-half minutes but were pegged back and then had keeper Dominik Livakovic sent off late-on.
The draw left Croatia second in Group A1 on seven points from four games, three ahead of third-placed Poland. Portugal top the group with 10 points with Scotland bottom on one point.
Poland, who were out for revenge after Croatia's 1-0 home victory in their Nations League clash in early September, were on a two-game losing streak and opted to start without all-time top scorer Robert Lewandowski in favour of 20-year-old Kacper Urbanski.
Poland were aggressive from the start, with Captain Piotr Zielinski scoring the opening goal in the fifth minute from a tight angle.
The hosts, however, suffered a dramatic collapse as Croatia scored three quick goals, with Borna Sosa capitalising on a rebound in the Polish box to level the score in the 19th minute with a volley into the far corner.
Petar Sucic gave Croatia the lead with a composed finish, and shortly after, Martin Baturina made it 3-1 by deftly placing the ball between Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka's legs in the 26th minute.
Poland were reeling but Nicola Zalewski's stunning goal just before halftime gave them a glimmer of hope in a thrilling, action-packed first half.
In the final seconds before the break, Jakub Kaminski unleashed a powerful shot that looked destined for the Croatian net, only for keeper Livakovic to pull off an extraordinary save that preserved the visitors' lead into the break.
That advantage lasted until shortly after the hour mark when Lewandowski set up Sebastian Szymanski to equalise in the 68th minute with a low shot into the left corner.
The drama was not finished however as Croatia's Livakovic was sent off for fouling Lewandowski in the 76th minute, yet the hosts failed to capitalise
Poland next travel to Portugal on Nov. 15 before hosting Scotland three days later, while Croatia visit the Scots and welcome Portugal in their last two group-stage fixtures.
Eriksen rallies Denmark to draw
Denmark's Christian Eriksen created one goal and scored another to grab a 2-2 draw against Switzerland, who were pegged back twice in their Nations League A Group 4 clash on Tuesday, to leave the Danes in second place on seven points.
Though the Swiss remain bottom, they managed to secure their first point of the campaign after three straight defeats, while group leaders Spain qualified for the quarter-finals with 10 points after a 3-0 win over third-placed Serbia who have four.
Switzerland went ahead when Remo Freuler reacted quickest in the box to lash a loose ball past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the 26th minute but the lead lasted just over a minute as Eriksen chipped a quick free kick into the path of Gustav Isaksen, who scored with a first-time left-foot shot.
The brace of quick-fire goals was greeted by a heavy fog rolling in across the pitch, but it did not prevent referee Umut Meler from seeing Switzerland's Breel Embolo getting hacked down by Patrick Dorgu just before the break and Zeki Amdouni made no mistake from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 for the hosts.
Dorgu almost made amends early in the second half only for his effort to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review but once again Eriksen came to the rescue with a cool, cushioned shot from Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg's lay-off in the 69th minute.
The Swiss had a goal from a corner ruled out because the ball went out of play before coming back in again and, despite plenty of possession, the home side could not fashion a winner as the game finished in a stalemate.
