Agence France-Presse
Nice (France), June 18: Defending European champions Spain booked their place in the last 16 round of Euro 2016 with a convincing 3-0 win against Turkey here Friday night.
Vicente del Bosque’s men bossed the Group D tie from the kick-off, with a double by Juventus’ Alvaro Morata and a first competitive international goal from Nolito sealing a comfortable win.
Turkey could also face UEFA sanctions after sections of their support lit flares and threw firecrackers onto the pitch at full time.
Spain, aiming for an unprecedented third consecutive Euro title, can seal top spot in the pool with just a draw against Croatia in their final group game Tuesday.
Before the game Turkey coach Fatih Terim had called for ‘more fight’ from his side to keep their Euro 2016 hopes alive after an out-of-sorts display Sunday against Croatia and for a while his players responded.
Sitting deep and launching the occasional counter-attack, Hakan Calhanoglu roused Turkey’s raucous fans by sending a free-kick just over David de Gea’s crossbar on 25 minutes.
From the half hour though, Spain moved up a gear, starving Turkey of possession and, with man of the match Andres Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield, carving out chance after chance.
First Sergio Busquets teed up Nolito for a right-footed curler just wide of left post. Then the busy Celta Vigo winger scuffed wide under pressure after a cutback from Juanfran.
On 34 minutes, though, Nolito turned provider to greater effect. Looking up, he spotted Morata unmarked in front of the Turkey goal and curled a pass over the defence to the marksman whose header gave Spain the lead.
Three minutes later, Vicente del Bosque’s men went two-up, this time with Nolito as the finisher. A chip into the box by Cesc Fabregas should not have reached its target but Mehmet Topal, off-balance, headed backward to the lurking Nolito who half-volleyed on the turn past Volkan Babacan.
After the break, despite some brief flurries of Turkish resistance, Spain quickly added a third on 48 minutes. Iniesta, immaculate throughout, threaded a ball through the Turkish defence to Jordi Alba who squared to Morata for his second of the night, a tap-in through Babacan’s legs.
In the other game played earlier in the night at Saint-Etinne, the Czech Republic and Croatia shared four goals and a point each. The draw took Croatia to four points, more or less securing their place in the last 16.
Goals from Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic had given Croatia a well-deserved 2-0 lead before Milan Skoda ensured a nervy finish when he pulled one back in the 76th minute with a powerful header from captain Tomas Rosicky’s perfectly judged cross. Substitute Tomas Necid then scored the equaliser deep into added time to salvage a draw for the Czech Republic.