Dominican Republic 1-3 Spain: La Roja seal quarter-final progress with game to spare

Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena were on target as Spain beat 10-man Dominican Republic 3-1 to seal their place in the men’s quarter-finals at the Olympic Games with a match to spare.

Miguel Gutierrez also struck for La Roja, who made it two wins from two in Group C at Stade de Bordeaux, where their opponents played over half of the game with 10 players following Edison Azcona’s red card.

Santi Denia’s side opened their campaign with a 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan at Parc des Princes on Wednesday, and the first goal of this contest was handed to them on a plate in the 24th minute.

Fermin ruthlessly pounced on Enrique Boesl’s tame pass out of goal, with the Barcelona midfielder calmly slotting home.

The Dominican Republic levelled 13 minutes later through Angel Montes de Oca’s free header, but they were reduced to 10 men just before half-time with Azcona dismissed for violent conduct after lashing out at Pau Cubarsi.

Spain capitalised on their numerical advantage through Alex Baena’s deflected strike in the 55th minute before substitute Gutierrez sealed the points 15 minutes later by tapping into an empty net, with the goal eventually standing following a VAR review.

2 – Spain has qualified from the group stage in consecutive #OlympicGames for the first time since a run of three between 1992 and 2000.

Focused. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/5NiulLl21a

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) July 27, 2024

Data Debrief: La Roja roar into quarter-finals

Spain dominated large periods of the contest with 21 shots to their opponents’ five and, playing the entire second half with an extra player, their superiority eventually told.

Silver medallists in Tokyo three years ago, La Roja have progressed from the group stage of consecutive Games for the first time since a run of three straight qualifications between 1992 and 2000.