Spain set up Germany quarter-final clash with dominant victory over Georgia
Spain ended Georgia’s Euro 2024 journey in emphatic fashion with a dominant 4-1 win over the underdogs.
Despite falling behind to an early own goal, Spain were overwhelmingly dominant, recording 75% possession and 35 shots on goal in a truly exceptional showing which also saw Georgia fail to record a shot on target.
Pedri had the game’s opening chance inside five minutes as Spain quickly made their dominance known, but things didn’t go to plan when Robin Le Normand sent the ball into the back of his own net 18 minutes in.
Otar Kakabadze’s fierce cross was sent in towards Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but the panicked Le Normand could only steer the ball beyond Unai Simon to put Georgia 1-0 ahead.
That shock barely changed the tone of the game, however, as Spain continued to rain down on Giorgi Mamardashvili’s goal. The in-demand stopper denied Fabian and Marc Cucurella but was finally beaten by big-game Rodri.
Williams registered his first assist of the tournament with a smart cut-back to the Manchester City midfielder, who crashed home from the edge of the area to restore parity heading into the half-time break.
Kvaratskhelia could have restored Georgia’s lead soon after the restart, but his profligacy was punished soon after as Fabian, who has dazzled so far this summer, nodded home from a Lamine Yamal cross to give Spain the lead their performance deserved 51 minutes in.
Spain did not ease the pressure on their underdog opponents and, after having a goal ruled out for offside, added a third just moments later.
It was Williams‘ turn to celebrate this time as, with Spain’s 27th shot of the game, collecting a long ball from Fabian and running the entire length of the Georgia half before thundering into the roof of Mamardashvili’s net to remove any doubt about the result.
A fourth came with seven minutes to go as Dani Olmo curled into the back of the net to steer Spain into the quarter-final, where they face a mouth-watering clash with Germany.