The City duo partnered in the heart of the Spanish defence and kept a clean sheet in a game that was dominated by Luis Enrique’s side.
Goals from Dani Olmo and Marco Asensio gave Spain the best possible start inside 20 minutes, after both players had missed opportunities in the opening exchanges of the game.
WORLD CUP 2022 | CITY’S PLAYERS AND THEIR FIXTURES
Former City man Ferran Torres put the Spaniards three ahead from the penalty spot after Barcelona team-mate Jordi Alba was taken down by Oscar Duarte inside the area.
Torres grabbed his second of the game nine minutes after the restart, the Costa Rican backline failed to clear their lines which left Torres with the easy task of rolling the ball past Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Spain made it 5-0 with 16 minutes of the game remaining, when substitute Alvaro Morata picked out Gavi just inside the area with the 18-year-old catching the ball on the volley and finding the back of the net via a post.
Carlos Soler and Morata scored a goal apiece in stoppage time to round off a magnificent performance at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha.
The centre-back partnership of Laporte and Rodrigo stood firm throughout, with Luis Suarez’s men failing to register an attempt on goal in 90 minutes.
The result puts Spain top of Group E on goal difference, level on points with Japan who came back to beat Germany in one of the shocks of the World Cup so far.
We’ll have reports of every single City player’s involvement at this tournament here on mancity.com and our official app.
