Pique earns Spain a hard-fought win in their Euros opener

Control in the centre of the pitch Following a sketchy few opening minutes for Vicente del Bosque's men, when the Czech Republic seized the initiative, Spain started to regain the lion's share of the possession and take control of the game. Players such as Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta began to make their presence felt and link up with the front line, and the chances started to blossom. A good piece of play by David Silva down the right ended with a shot by Alvaro Morata, but Petr Cech was well-positioned to preserve the deadlock.

Morata keeps them busy As the game developed, Spain's control in midfield increased steadily, as did the number of Czech players called on to perform defensive duties. Spain had a veritable wall of players in front of them, but still managed to find spaces and create danger. All of the attacking players had a very active Morata to work with, and his movement caused no end of problems. He was the next to come close, with a low shot which agonizingly grazed the outside of Cech's far post.

Cech holds the fort After a first half marked by Spanish domination, Vicente del Bosque's men launched a fresh offensive at the start of the second half, creating three good chances to open the scoring. The clearest of them was when Roman Hubnik knocked the ball against his own post. Spain were pushing hard, but kept coming up against a solid and well-positioned Cech. The Czechs, meanwhile, were looking to catch their opponents on the break, although they almost took the lead off a free-kick with a shot by Hubnik, but David de Gea was there to save.

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Spain wins on their debut in the #EURO2016! Come on! pic.twitter.com/coixtJZUuu

— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) June 13, 2016

 

A dangerous slump Del Bosque started to mobilise his bench in search of a solution, but halfway through the first half Spain entered a slump which could have cost them dear. The Czech Republic made three good forays towards De Gea's goal, the clearest of them a header by Theodor Gebre Selassie which Cesc Fabregas cleared virtually off the line. However, Spain reacted quickly, recovering their rhythm, reclaiming possession, and creating a threat up front. Jordi Alba and David Silva both had great chances to make it 1-0 – Alba assisted superbly by the latter and Silva with a shot from the edge of the box –, but the ball crept wide on both occasions.

Pique imposes his power The final whistle was approaching with the Czech Republic managing to hold off the Spanish siege with impeccable concentration in defence. The Spaniards tried everything to penetrate the steely Czech back line and it was Iniesta who managed it in the 87th minute. The FC Barcelona player whipped a venomous cross into the box from the left flank, and Gerard Pique rose majestically to deal the killer blow, giving Spain three hard-fought points in their EURO 2016 opener. The win puts Spain level with Croatia on three points at the top of Group D before taking on Turkey on Friday 17 June in Nice.