Kazan: A fortuitous second half goal by Diego Costa broke a Persian stonewall and lifted Spain to a 1-0 win over a courageous Iran in a nerve-jangling World Cup clash here Wednesday.
Costa claimed his third goal of the tournament in the 54th minute at Kazan Arena but the striker hardly knew about it, the ball deflecting off his knee from an attempted clearance by hapless Iran defender Ramin Rezaeian.
The result put Spain joint top of Group B with Iberian rivals Portugal on four points ahead of their last match against the already eliminated Morocco. It is indeed a peculiar situation with both sides scoring four goals and conceding three so far. Hence Spain’s match against already eliminated Morocco and Portugal’s against Iran assumes great importance as to who top the group.
Iran however, remain alive in the tournament with three points and can reach the knockout rounds for the first time with victory over Portugal.
Spain will feel relieved to have emerged with the points and content that they played the better football against Carlos Queiroz’s stingy side.
“We were not lying yesterday (Tuesday) when we said in the press conference that Iran is a tough team,” said Spain coach Fernando Hierro. “It is very hard to score against them… We are very happy with three points.”
Boasting Asia’s meanest defence, Queiroz’s well-drilled Iran were typically grudging, but they will again rue the lack of a clinical touch after a number of chances went begging.
They have yet to score a goal off their own boot this tournament and fans will have torn their hair out after Mehdi Taremi headed over the bar from six yards out in the 82nd minute.
It was not until the 25th minute that Spain had a shot on target, with David Silva sending a free-kick straight into the arms of keeper Ali Beiranvand.
Spain pushed hard after the break, with Sergio Busquets unleashing a searing long-range strike that forced Beiranvand into a brilliant double save.
From an unedifying grind, the game suddenly roared into life, and minutes later, Karim Ansarifard had latched onto a poor clearance and fired just wide of the left post.
Then came Costa’s goal albeit luckily, but the Iranians were not ready to give up easily. They thought they had the equaliser when the recalled Saeid Ezatolahi struck from close range in the 63rd minute, latching onto a ball headed down.
But he was ruled off-side by the VAR, prompting howls of derision from white-clad Iranian fans. And then came the Taremi miss that killed Iran’s hopes.