Alvaro Morata gives Spain 1-0 victory over Ukraine

Alvaro Morata’s first-half goal gave Spain a valuable 1-0 victory over Ukraine in Group C of the European Qualifiers at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Spain dominated much of the game and ran Ukraine ragged in order to retain their 30-game unbeaten run at home in competitive matches.

The home side took the lead in the middle of the first half when Koke laid in Morata to finish well past Andriy Pyatov.

The home side looked comfortable in the second half but had a few scary moments when Iker Casillas let a loose pass out from defence only to see the shot come straight back at him.

Spain now go three points clear of Ukraine but remain in second place after Slovakia beat Luxembourg to remain three points clear of the former world champions.

5’ – CHANCE! – Iniesta puts in Silva just behind the Ukraine defence. He squares back to Morata but just before he can tap in to the back of the net Shevchuk gets back to clear.

15’ – CHANCE! – Iniesta again with a ball to Isco who wriggles through to a good shooting position. He shoots but it is blocked to Silva who hits it on the volley but it is blocked again.

19’ – CHANCE! – Yarmolenko swings in a great cross from the right wing to the on-rushing Fedetskiy who connects on the volley but he hits it all wrong and it flies wide.

28’ – GOAL! – Iniesta chips a clever ball through to Koke in acres of space in the middle. He helps the ball on perfectly to Morata who makes no mistake as he hits the ball into the ground and the back of the net.

38’ – DISALLOWED GOAL! – Iniesta pulling the strings again as he plays a brilliant pass to Juanfran on the right wing. He crosses low to Morata for a tap in but it is disallowed as the right back had just started his run too early.

41’ – CROSSBAR! – Silva whips in a great free kick to the near post from the right where Pique finds space and crashes a header on to the crossbar.

51’ – GREAT SAVE! – Casillas tips a free kick round the post after Rotan delivers a wicked ball into the box.

66’ – CHANCE! – Kravets hits a shot straight into Casillas after a great cutback from Konoplyanka which he should have put away.

87’ – GREAT SAVE! – Isco plays a beautiful pass with the outside of his boot to Pedro rushing into the box. He digs out a shot which was headed into the bottom corner but Pyatov tips it round the post acrobatically.

Spain are unbeaten in 30 competitive home matches since their 1-0 defeat to Greece in June 2003.

Ukraine conceded their first goal since their opening European qualifier against Slovakia.

Spain have won three out of the last four games between these two sides.

Spain have now won 20 and drawn five of their games at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville and have never lost there.

Will Spain topple Slovakia and take control of Group C? They started sloppily in the group but have got stronger and stronger. At the beginning of the campaign they would have seen Ukraine as their most difficult opponents and saw them off with ease tonight. They’ll fancy themselves to take full control of Group C soon enough if they carry on like this.

Andres Iniesta – He may not have scored or assisted a goal for Barcelona in over a year but his play tonight was nothing short of mesmeric. He controlled the game from start to finish and was at the heart of everything Spain did well tonight. Went off to a standing ovation.

Spain – Casillas 7, Juanfran 7, Ramos 8, Pique 8, Alba 7, Busquets 6, Koke 8, Isco 8, Iniesta 9, David Silva 8, Morata 8. Subs - Pedro 7, Bernat 7, Cazorla 7.

Ukraine – Pyatov 7, Fedetskiy 6, Khacheridi 7, Kucher 6, Shevchuk 7, Yarmolenko 5, Rotan 7, Tymoschuk 6, Stepanenko 6, Konoplyanka 7, Zozulya 5. Subs - Kravets 6, Garmash 5.