Spain 3-0 Austria: Oyarzabal brace and the champions finally look scary again

[TheGreatMoney]

So after all the hand wringing about that Cape Verde draw, Spain turned up at SoFi Stadium and dismantled Austria 3-0. Oyarzabal got two, Pedro Porro headed in his first ever goal for Spain, and honestly it never looked in doubt after the opener in the 36th minute. That is now 34 games unbeaten inside 90 minutes, which is a ridiculous run however you slice it

The bit that gets overlooked is Unai Simon. Five straight World Cup clean sheets and he has now gone past 500 minutes without conceding at the tournament, breaking a record that stood since Zenga in 1990. People talk about Yamal and the attack but that defensive base is what wins you knockout tournaments

Speaking of Yamal, he did not score but he was involved in everything good Spain did in the first half. Alaba had to clear one off the line late on to deny him. De la Fuente said afterwards they came close to perfection, which is a bold claim, but it was their first knockout win at a World Cup since the 2010 final itself, so maybe he is entitled to a bit of swagger

Sympathy for Austria though. Cucurella had a goal chalked off for a foul on Schlager which looked soft to me, and Rangnick threw on Kalajdzic hoping for another late miracle like the Algeria game, but there was no way back. Alaba sounded gutted afterwards. Anyone else think Spain are now the outright favourites?

Mikel Oyarzabal fires Spain past Austria to World Cup last 16www.espn.com