Alvaro Morata's first half strike helps Spain to slender win over Ukraine in Seville
Alvaro Morata scored in the first half as Spain beat Ukraine 1-0 in Seville on Friday night.
The Juventus striker had a second goal ruled out for offside before the break, while visiting goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov produced a fine save late on to prevent substitute Santi Cazorla doubling the host's lead.
Slovakia's 3-0 win against Luxembourg, though, means Spain still remain three points off top spot in Group C.
Vicente del Bosque will have been happy with the way his players performed in the first half, but they weren't as impressive after the break.
Iker Casillas had to make several saves to keep La Roja in front -- although one of those saves was borne from his own poor pass.
Andres Iniesta and Isco shone in the opening 45 minutes in a midfield alongside David Silva, Sergio Busquets and Koke.
And it was the Iniesta's pass which was deflected forward by Koke into the path of the on-rushing Morata to open the scoring with a scrappy finish.
Moments before, the former Real Madrid man had been lucky to escape a booking for an obvious dive inside the penalty area.
Spain continued to control proceedings, with Isco producing some lovely touches in the second period, but Ukraine never looked completely beaten.
When Pyatov saved from Cazorla the concern was that it might turn into one of those nights.
In the end, though, the only negative for the hosts -- and for Barcelona -- was a late injury to Jordi Alba, who hobbled off to be replaced by Juan Bernat in the closing stages.
