Spain 3-0 Italy: La Roja edge towards World Cup with dominant win
Isco was pure magic and Iniesta ran the game from midfield
Spain are now three points clear of Italy in their qualifying group
Isco scored twice as Spain beat Italy 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to move one step closer to securing their place at next summer's World Cup in Russia.
ESP
3 ________________ 0
ITA
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España
De Gea, Carvajal, Piqué, Ramos, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Koke, Iniesta (Morata, 71'), Isco (Villa, 87'), Silva, Asensio (Saúl, 78')
Italia
Buffon, Darmian, Barzagli, Bonucci, Spinazzola, De Rossi, Verratti, Candreva (Bernardeschi, 69'), Insigne, Immobile (Gabbiadini, 77'), Belotti (Éder, 69')
Goles
1-0, Isco (13'); 2-0, Isco (40'); 3-0, Morata (76')
Árbitro
Björn Kuipers (Holandés). TA: Verratti (4'), Bonucci (12')
Incidencias
Santiago Bernabéu, 73.628 espectadores
Alvaro Morata scored the third in the second half and there was a late return to international football for David Villa as La Roja moved three points clear at the top of Group G.
With just three games to go, startign with Liechtenstein this week and followed by Albania and Israel in October, Julen Lopetegui's men have put themselves in a strong position.
Lopetegui picked a midfield-heavy team, with the front three combining David Silva, Marco Asensio and Isco. Behind them were Barcelona duo Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets and Atletico's Koke.
It was a tactic which very much worked and Spain dominated the first half, with Marco Verratti overrun in Italy's midfield.
Isco opened the scoring with a fine free-kick in the 14th minute after Asensio had been brought down, although Gianluigi Buffon could have done better.
The Real Madrid man added his second just before the break, ducking inside before rifling low into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box.
Spain's dominance continued after the break and they got their third goal via substitute Morata.
Chelsea's new front man played a one-two with Sergio Ramos, with the defender returning the ball perfectly for a tap-in from two years.
Morata had a second goal ruled out for offside, before David Villa, back in the national team despite playing his football in the MLS, was handed a late cameo, much to the delight of the supporters.
