Spain had their 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the World Cup group stage matchday 2 all but wrapped up inside 24 minutes. The opening goal came in the 10th minute, when Lamine Yamal finished off a move initiated by M. Oyarzabal to put Spain ahead and force Saudi Arabia into an early reactive role. In that phase, Spain found the spaces they were looking for and exploited them without needing much time to settle.
The decisive spell came in the three minutes between the 21st and 24th minute. First, M. Oyarzabal made it 2-0 from an assist by A. Laporte, then he struck again after a pass from D. Olmo. An early lead had become a commanding one before Saudi Arabia could settle into the game. The yellow card shown to S. Al Dawsari in the 30th minute was fitting for a first half in which Saudi Arabia spent much of their time chasing shadows.
The numbers reflected the way the match unfolded, with Spain controlling both possession and efforts on goal. Spain registered 67 per cent possession, 22 shots and 8 shots on target; Saudi Arabia managed just 33 per cent possession, 3 shots and 1 shot on target. An xG figure of 2.85 to 0.14 underlined that the victory was not simply a product of clinical finishing. M. Oyarzabal shaped the match with two goals and an assist in just 45 minutes, while Mohammed Al-Owais, despite conceding four, made 5 saves to prevent the defeat from being even heavier.
At half-time, Spain withdrew Lamine Yamal and M. Oyarzabal, bringing on Y. Pino and F. Torres. For Saudi Arabia, M. Kanno replaced A. Al Khaibari and A. Al Hamdan came on for M. Al Juwayr. The scoreline was put beyond all doubt shortly after the restart when H. Tambakti turned the ball into his own net in the 49th minute.
In the 60th minute, M. Kanno was shown a yellow card. Both teams made a further 5 substitutions during the middle period. Saudi Arabia made one final change in the 90th minute, with K. Al Ghannam replacing N. Al Dawsari.
A VAR review followed in the 90+2nd minute, but it had no bearing on the result. Spain took four points from their first two group games along with a healthy goal difference, and above all the confirmation that their attack is capable of settling matches early. Saudi Arabia remained on one point and, heading into their final group game, had to address in particular the meagre number of efforts they had managed at the other end.
