Seville: A bizarre blunder by the Slovakia goalkeeper helped Spain find their scoring touch at the European Championship.
And it also helped them advance to the round of 16.
An embarrassing own-goal by goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka in the first half put Spain on its way to a 5-0 victory on Wednesday, coming only minutes after the hosts had missed another penalty kick and wasted more scoring chances.
Dúbravka saved that early penalty from Álvaro Morata but then clumsily knocked the ball into his own net after it ricocheted high into the air off a shot by Pablo Sarabia in the 30th minute.
Dúbravka stood just off his line and waited for the ball to descend. He jumped to swat it over for a corner, but the ball veered to his left and rolled off his right hand and into the net.
Desolate, he stood by the goal line as some of his teammates came over to support him.
Aymeric Laporte added to Spain’s lead before halftime, and Sarabia, Ferran Torres and another own-goal in the second half made it five for “La Roja,” which had been facing elimination in front of its own fans.
The victory allowed Spain to advance in second place in Group E with five points. The team will next play Croatia in Copenhagen on Monday. Sweden, which defeated Poland 3-2 in the other match, won the group.
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