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

[RomanReigns]

Favourites, easily. Nobody else has that combination of control and depth right now

[Mick79]

Careful now. Everyone said the same thing about Spain in 2018 and they got picked apart by Russia of all teams

[codeberg]

Oyarzabal is quietly having an unbelievable tournament. Eleven goals in his last ten internationals for Spain, that is elite finishing from a player nobody outside La Liga talks about

[SortedMate]

The Cucurella disallowed goal was a joke decision. Keepers get protected far too much these days

[Gary98]

Disagree, Schlager was clearly impeded. Watch it again from the reverse angle

[Panda54]

Simon breaking Zenga's record is mad. That Italy 1990 defence was legendary and this Spain side just walked past it almost unnoticed

[Warden]

Austria can hold their heads high. Getting out of a group with Argentina in it was already overachieving for them

[Shane96]

How is Porro only just scoring his first international goal? The man takes rockets for Spurs every other week

[VoidSentinel]

The real question is whether De la Fuente rests anyone before the Portugal or Croatia game. That unbeaten run makes rotation risky

[SortedCougar]

Yamal not scoring is almost more worrying for opponents. Imagine when he actually starts converting those chances