MARSEILLE: Spain reached their second successive Olympic men’s football final when they beat Morocco 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Fermin Lopez and Juanlu Sanchez in Marseille.

Spain recovered efficiently after Morocco went ahead to earn the chance to improve on Friday on their silver medal in Tokyo.

Morocco opened the scoring in the 37th minute when the tournament’s top scorer Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty for his sixth Olympic goal after a Pablo Barrios foul. The 28-year-old Al Ain striker has netted for Morocco in every match at the Games.

The first half had to be extended because referee Ilgiz Tantashev had to be replaced by fourth official Glenn Nyberg because of injury after a Spanish player fell on his ankle.

Spain were more dangerous after the break and equalised in the 66th minute when Barcelona’s Fermin, who had scored twice in the quarter-finals against Japan, punished poor Moroccan defending. Substitute Juanlu struck the winner five minutes from time after a fine team move.

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