Madrid: Spain took a giant step towards qualifying for next year’s World Cup as Isco’s double and Alvaro Morata’s late strike swept aside Italy 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu here Saturday night.
Isco was the star performer in a brilliant team display from the hosts as his early free-kick and long-range effort before half time put Spain in control before Morata came off the bench to rub salt in Italian wounds.
“Isco was magnificent, like the rest of his teammates,” said Spain coach Julen Lopetegui after the game. “He opened the game up for us with his two goals.”
Italy’s first defeat in a qualifier since 2006 means Spain now lead Group G of European qualifying by three points with just three games remaining and can also count on a far superior goal difference.
Lopetegui opted to start without a recognized striker as Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio made his first competitive international start as one of six midfielders.
Asensio has made a habit of scoring on his debuts for Real Madrid and was heavily involved in the opener, although it was his club teammate Isco who provided the killer touch on 14 minutes.
Leonardo Bonucci was lucky only to see a yellow card for chopping down Asensio on the edge of the area. Isco scooped the resulting free-kick over the Italian wall and beyond legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon, who was slow to react.
Spain’s passing and pressing in the first period was reminiscent of the glory period in which La Roja won three consecutive major tournaments between 2008 and 2012.
And a flowing team move got the finish it deserved five minutes before half`time when Isco cut inside onto his weaker left foot, but still dispatched an unstoppable effort from outside the box low past the helpless Buffon.
Spain’s third arrived 13 minutes from time as Sergio Ramos careered forward from defence to lead a counter-attack and his inch-perfect low cross left Morata with the simplest of tasks to fire into the roof of the net.
Agence France-Presse
