Late goals from Iago Aspas and Isco helped Spain rescue a 2-2 draw at the death versus England in an international friendly played on Tuesday night at Wembley Stadium in London.
For the large majority of the match Spain were a disjointed side that committed far too many errors in defence and had difficulty containing England's speedy wingers. In attack, La Roja did not muster anything until the final stages when the second half substitutes paid dividends. Nevertheless, the result keeps head coach Julen Lopetegui's unbeaten record intact.
Lopetegui's starting XI had a couple names in it that did not appear in last week's World Cup qualifier against Macedonia. Namely, Pepe Reina enjoyed a rare start in goal, Iñigo Martinez and Cesar Azpilicueta got nods in defence, while midfielder Juan Mata and 35-year-old striker Aritz Aduriz were also included. But the main story was the formation. Lopetegui opted for a 3-4-2-1, but the three-main back line faltered and by the 25th minute, Spain had reverted back to a four-man defence.
England hardly had a touch in the opening minutes, but when they did get a hold of the ball, it led to the game's first goal. Spain lost possession just inside their own half and poor defending allowed Adam Lallana to feed a pass into Jamie Vardy, who then drew a penalty on Reina. Lallana stepped up and calmly converted the spot kick to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead.
England grew more into the game with the early advantage and found success by pressing whenever La Roja came into the England half, while using Raheem Sterling and Vardy on the counter-attack to keep the Spanish defence on their heels.
But the rest of the half devolved into a series of fouls and a surprising number of yellow cards for a friendly. Lopetegui's men were unable to mount much of an attack to worry England No. 1 Joe Hart. If anything, England looked the stronger side and perhaps with some better finishing the Three Lions would have been up by two heading into half-time.
The start of the second half saw a pair of changes made to the Spanish line-up. Koke replaced Mata while Iago Aspas came on for Vitolo, but minutes later Spain found themselves down 2-0 as a thumping Vardy header doubled the home side's lead. Jordan Henderson played a ball in the area that curled over the heads of the offside Jesse Lingard and Sterling, but the onrushing Vardy, who was left unmarked by Martinez and Dani Carvajal, was there to meet it with a diving header that Reina had no chance of stopping.
The pace of the English attackers was wreaking havoc on the Spanish defence, who didn't help themselves out with a slew of mistakes, and if not for a diving save from Reina, Theo Walcott would have made it a 3-0 game just a few minutes after the Vardy goal.
At the hour mark Lopetegui made another two changes in attack, with Isco replacing Silva and Alvaro Morata on for the ineffective Aduriz. Spain's intensity was higher with the second half substitutes on the pitch and finally England's second half goalkeeper Tom Heaton was forced into a save on a low-driving shot from Morata.
Nolito was then brought on for Sergio Busquets to add some late punch, but it was Aspas who would be the one to start the comeback. Spain did well to counter quickly, with Morata spraying a pass out wide to Aspas, and from there the former Liverpool man took advantage of the space left to him by John Stones and scored past Heaton.
La Roja charged late and Isco had the equaliser on his boot in the first minute of added time, but his shot was deflected out for a corner. The Real Madrid man would redeem himself when he gathered in a pass off his chest and from the narrowest of angles fired in from the right as the clock ticked past 95 minutes to give Spain an improbable 2-2 draw.
