Georgia 1-2 Spain
Mission Improbable was how I billed this World Cup qualifying Group B clash.
A contest in the Georgian capital which the hosts had no right to win.
Then, two minutes before the break, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia connected with a pass from Otar Kiteishvili and the nation ranked 89th best in the world had a shock lead.
For those lucky home fans inside the Boris Paichadze Dinamo arena – following government advice the Georgian Football Federation admitted supporters to fill 30-per cent capacity of the stadium with physical distancing – it was scarcely believable.
Suddenly, following their opening qualifier, which saw a dominant performance yield only a point, there was genuine pressure on Luis Enrique’s Spain.
Surely, the SBOTOP World Cup qualifying betting odds weren’t going to be turned on their head again?
Highlights of the game
For Georgia, anything from this contest was a bonus.
They had given Sweden, Zlatan and al a real test on Thursday night and here was another match in which they were massive underdogs.
It was another early test for new manager Willy Sagnol, a mainstay of the French national team and Bayern Munich in the 2000s, as he received a warm welcome in his first home match in charge.
He saw Ferran Torres of Manchester City test home keeper Giorgi Loria early on but it was far from one-way traffic, despite the visitors dominating possession, as a Guram Kashia header tested Unai Simon early on and Otar Kakabadze fired wide before Kvaratskhelia broke the deadlock.
Whatever happened from here, Georgia had one of their own World Cup qualifying highlights to enjoy against the 2010 world champions.
It took Spain just 10 minutes after the restart to restore parity as Jordi Alba delivered an inviting cross and Torres rifled the ball into the bottom right corner.
Enrique, who had made two substitutions at the interval, cut a worried figures on the touchline and had used all five replacements by the 73rd minute as his side continued to control the majority of the play, yet were unable to break down their well-organised opponents.
One of those subs, Dani Olmo, fired wide and Alvaro Morata headed over.
Then, just when it looked as if Georgia were to claim one of the best ever results in their relatively short footballing history, arrived a winner in stoppage time.
It was hard not to feel some sympathy for the minnows as Alba picked out Olmo and he fired the ball into the top right-hand corner, despite the best efforts of Loria, to seal a much-needed victory for a relieved Spain.
The anguished reaction on the faces of the home players
The frustration was too much for home midfielder Levan Shengelia who was shown a red card with seconds remaining for a poor tackle on Pedri.
Key statistics
Torres has scored four of the last seven Spanish national team goals, three of them in the second half of matches.
Spain have lost just one of their last 21 matches (won 13, drawn seven), with that defeat against Ukraine last October.
La Roja have won just two of their last six fixtures (drawn three, lost one), keeping a clean sheet in just one of those matches.
Having won eight of his 10 games in charge of the Spanish national team during his first stint, Enrique has led the team to just four wins in his last 10 matches since returning to the job in November 2019 (drawn five, lost one).
This was just the fourth meeting between the two nations.
Georgia are without a win in their last seven games, drawing three and losing four matches. Their last victory came in October last year against Belarus.
What’s next?
After facing the two big hitters in Group B Sweden and Spain, Georgia head to Greece on Wednesday (March 31).
A friendly is then scheduled against Romania in early June before World Cup qualifying resumes in September at home to Kosovo.
Spain host Kosovo themselves in midweek and will then turn their attentions to the delayed Euro 2020.
After an early June friendly against neighbours and reigning European champions Portugal, Luis Enrique’s side will meet Sweden, Poland and Slovakia in their group.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on June 11.
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