Mikel Merino rescues Spain as Croatia stun France in Nations League quarter-finals | OneFootball

Mikel Merino was the hero for Spain as La Roja snatched a stoppage-time equaliser against 10-man Netherlands to secure a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final.

Merino, who has deputised as a striker for Arsenal in the absence of Kai Havertz, came on as a midfielder but proved his knack for goalscoring as he tapped in a close-range rebound three minutes into added time in Rotterdam.

The Dutch had dominated much of the match – having recovered from Nico Williams’ early goal to go 2-1 up via Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders – but faltered after a late red card for 19-year-old defender Jorrel Hato.

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Williams had opened the scoring in Rotterdam (Getty Images)

And Merino popped up a couple minutes from time to give Spain a goal that maintain a two-year unbeaten streak and gives the European champions the advantage ahead of the second leg in Valencia on Sunday.

In the evening’s other blockbuster tie, Germany came from behind to beat Italy 2-1 as two of the continent’s most successful sides met at the San Siro.

Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali had opened the scoring early on, putting the finishing touches on a well-worked goal, and though the Azzurri continued to look dangerous it was Germany who scored next, with substitute Tim Kleindienst heading in four minutes after the break.

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Goretzka scored the winner to give Germany a potentially vital advantage (Getty Images)

Both sides fought for the win but it was the visitors who grabbed it late on, with Leon Goretzka’s glancing header from a corner giving them the lead 14 minutes from time.

It means that Germany take a narrow lead into the second leg in Dortmund, with the winner facing the victor from the quarter-final between Portugal and Denmark .

And that match produced the first of two shocks of the evening, as Rasmus Hojlund scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for the Danes.

Hojlund came off the bench to net the winner in Copenhagen in a game in which the hosts created plenty of chances, with Christian Eriksen seeing a first-half penalty saved by Diogo Costa.

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Ronaldo was unable to make his mark on the game as Portugal fell to defeat (Getty Images)

The Portugal goalkeeper came to the rescue on several occasions, but there was little he could do about the goal as Andreas Skov Olsen squared the ball for Hojlund to tap in in the 78th minute.

It was Portugal who applied the pressure as the game approached the final whistle but Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates were unable to capitalise, leaving Denmark with a slender lead ahead of Sunday's second leg in Lisbon.

There was another shock in Split, goals from Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic gave Croatia a deserved 2-0 win over France.

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(AFP via Getty Images)

The return of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele failed to spark the visitors to life in a match in Croatia were the dominant side, with Andrej Kramaric also seeing a penalty saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Croatia, who were runners-up in the last edition of this tournament, were good value for their win, and though France tested Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic several times, it was a below-par performance from Les Bleus.