Spain remain alive in the 2018 World Cup after defeating an obstinate Iran 1-0 thanks to a fortunate own goal in Kazan.
An own goal, courtesy of a second half Diego Costa deflection, was enough to secure victory at Kazan Arena. Spain headed into the match after that brilliant 3-3 draw with Portugal and needing a victory badly, especially after their neighbours downed Morocco 1-0 to go top of the group. Iran came into the game after surprisingly edging the Moroccans by a single goal in their first tournament fixture.
The Europeans started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, spear-headed by Costa. Team Melli was led by former Real Madrid manager Carlos Quieroz. From the kick-off the Iranians were content to sit back, stay compact and play on the counter. Spain dominated possession, as expected, and pressed high up the pitch to win the ball back. It was a stop-start opening 10 minutes, with several niggly fouls and constant appeals for free kicks.
Kazan Arena was filled with Iran fans, easily outnumbered their Iberian counterparts. They make a constant buzz of noise with horns and vuvuzalas, completely drowning out any other sound. For the first 25 minutes Iran’s game-plan worked well, with Spain unable to create any clear-cut opportunities and reliant on long-range free kicks. Goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand managed to deal with them with little bother.
In the 29th minute David Silva tried an ambitious bicycle kick, but couldn’t keep his shot down. The Spaniards continue to enjoy virtually all of the ball, but Iran’s defence remained resolute. Several Iranian players time-wasted by feigning injury. In the 41st Silva almost had another chance, but opposition defenders swarmed to block his strike. Four minutes later only a deflection stopped the Manchester City midfielder from notching the first goal.
Iran headed into half-time holding on with the score still locked at 0-0. They had parked the bus successfully for 45 minutes. In the first half Spain had fired in 10 shots, to their opponent’s two, with a staggering 81% possession and 375 passes compared with Iran’s 71.
The second half started with Spain upping its intensity. In the 48th minute Beiranvand was forced into making two great saves. In the 52nd minute Karim Ansarifard almost put Iran amazingly ahead, but his blasting strike just hit the side netting. Immediately after it was Costa who finally broke the deadlock. The Aletico Madrid man turned his defender and then Ramin Rezaeian tried to clear the ball, but could only badly deflect it off Costa into the goal. It was poor luck for plucky Team Melli.
In the 61st minute they had a free kick in a decent spot and then controversy reined. Iran launched the ball into the box and Saeid Ezatolahi shot past David De Gear. The Iranians thought they had equalized, and the stadium erupted, but the goal was chalked off by the VAR for offside.
On 68 minutes Iran replaced Ehsan Haji Safi with Milad Mohammadi. They were pushing further up the field, being more adventurous and positive, but this also meant more chances for Spain at the other end. Spain brought off Andres Iniesta for Koke and then Iran made its second sub, Alireza Jahanbakhsh on for Ansarifard.
In the 79th minute Lucas Vazquez made way for Marco Asensio. Two minutes later Iran should have equalized when Vahid Amiri beat his man and crossed for Mehdi Taremi, but Taremi’s header sailed over the Spanish goal. With four minutes left forward Saman Ghoddos came on, as Team Melli surged forward in search of a precious goal, and Costa was replaced by Rodrigo. But Spain would not be stopped, holding on to its slender lead to notch its first World Cup win in Russia.
