Belgium U21 1-2 Spain U21: West Ham new boy Pablo Fornals smashes late winner as Spain keep Under-21 European Championship hopes alive.
Pablo Fornals showed why his signing for West Ham United could well be regarded as a major coup by scoring a brilliant late winner for Spain Under-21s against Belgium Under-21s in the European Championships on Wednesday night.
The 21-year-old playmaker agreed to join the Hammers from Villarreal last week for £24million and illustrated why he merited becoming the club's second most expensive player of all-time with a match-winning performance against Belgium.
His 89th minute effort, a rifled strike into the far corner of the net, ensured Spain still have a chance of progressing to the semi-finals in Italy, while Belgium are eliminated.
Both sides had suffered defeats in their opening matches, with Spain losing to hosts Italy and Belgium stunned by Poland, making this clash a do-or-die encounter in Group A.
Spain took the lead early in the first-half when former Barcelona winger Daniel Olmo, who plays for Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, whipped a volley into the net after a cut-back from Carlos Soler.
Luis de la Fuente's side dominated the first period but Belgium hit back from a set-piece when defender Sebastiaan Bornauw scrambled the ball over the line on 24 minutes.
Spain enjoyed the better of the chances but Belgium posed a threat on counter-attack as the game progressed, creating an engaging end-to-end spectacle.
And it would be Spain who would steal victory at the death when Fornals drove with the ball from the left flank and left fly from the edge of the area, giving goalkeeper Ortwin de Wolf no chance.
Both teams will be in action on Saturday, when Belgium face Italy and Spain take on Poland.