JONATHAN SHALLARD in MADRID: England came to the Spanish capital and did what no visiting side had managed here since February 1987 in beating world champion hosts Spain. A record 10th successive away win for the Three Lions was achieved with a performance of early ruthlessness, a late scare and a stoppage-time save that will live in the memory.

Coach Thomas Tuchel’s side were already through to the Nations League quarter-finals. Spain, reigning world and European champions, needed only a draw to win the group, and arrived on a record unbeaten run of 44 matches. They ended up second in the Group 3A with England’s September defeat at Wembley by the same scoreline avenged.

The build-up was soured by a public disagreement between Tuchel and his Spain counterpart Luis de la Fuente over anti-racism protocols. It was England’s first visit to the Spanish capital since the abuse of black players at the Bernabéu in 2004. On the pitch, the visitors let their football do the talking.

They should have scored within two minutes. Jude Bellingham was denied by a sharp save from Unai Simón, and the tone was set. England pressed with discipline, Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon harrying Spain’s back line, while Elliot Anderson’s passing carried the visitors up the pitch.

It was Anderson’s pass that released Harry Kane shortly before the interval. The captain’s footwork left Pau Cubarsí stranded and the defender brought him down. Kane drove the penalty beyond Simón for his 93rd England goal.

He has now scored in seven successive England away matches equalling old legend Tom Finney’s record.

The second half began as the first had ended. Within eight minutes Declan Rice swung in a corner and Ezri Konsa, left unmarked, met it to make it 2-0. Before the hour it was three. Bellingham found Ben White, making his first competitive start for England, who finished through Simón’s legs and, in the process, answered some of his Wembley critics.

At 3-0, England were cruising. Then came the turning point. Jarell Quansah was caught in possession, and Anderson, who had been superb, dragged down Lamine Yamal inside the box and was sent off. Mikel Oyarzabal sent James Trafford the wrong way from the spot, and the Metropolitano, subdued until then, found its voice.

Substitute Nico Williams cut the deficit further when he ran unnoticed onto Yamal’s cross, and England faced a long final quarter of an hour. Tuchel reinforced his side, bringing on Myles Lewis-Skelly, Djed Spence and Dan Burn, and England retreated into a low block.

Trafford, preferred to the rested Jordan Pickford, was magnificent. He stopped efforts from Fermín López and Yamal, then produced the save of the night in stoppage time, parrying Yamal’s shot and somehow keeping out Aymeric Laporte’s follow-up. Moments earlier, Konsa had made a crucial challenge on Williams inside the area. White blocked another dangerous Spanish counter.

When the final whistle sounded, England’s players collapsed into one another. It was their record 10th consecutive away win and a result that echoed their gritty work in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium at the World Cup.

There are blemishes. Quansah’s error and Anderson’s rashness nearly cost England a famous victory, and Gordon gave the ball away in the move for Spain’s second. But Tuchel will reflect on 64 minutes of near-perfect football against the best side in the world, and a collective resilience that his predecessors would have envied.

For Spain, the defeat will sting. For England, it is a statement. Both teams return to action in March for the Nations League quarter-finals, but few will forget this night in Madrid.

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