The victory came at a cost, however, as Morata was taken off on a stretcher after apparently sustaining damage to his right fibula and midfielder David Silva had to be replaced by Juan Mata after 11 minutes with what looked like an ankle problem.
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The news of Silva’s setback will be of particular concern to City manager Manuel Pellegrini, with Sergio Aguero having been stretchered off during Argentina’s loss to Ecuador on Thursday evening.
Spain’s Alvaro Morata, laments before to leaves the pitch, during…
The second half felt like a training match at times, with Spain’s resounding grip on matters far too much for Luxembourg’s counterattacking threat, but Alcacer provided a few welcome respite just after the hour mark, when he latched onto Fabregas’ through ball and buried a finish beyond Joubert.
A lovely move involving substitute Nolito and Alba allowed Alcacer to score his sixth goal in nine appearances for Spain, the striker tapping in from the Barcelona left-back’s cross after Nolito nutmegged a defender.
Spain played with a depleted squad because of injuries and suspensions. The hosts finally break Luxembourg’s resistance through Cazorla. Spain have only faced Luxembourg five times and are still yet to concede a goal, and further stacking the odds in Spain’s favour is the fact that Luxembourg have not won any of their last 18 away qualifiers, with the last win coming in Switzerland in 2008. Juanfran delivers the ball into the penalty area, Pedro’s shot is saved but Cazorla finds himself in the right place to tuck in the rebound.
80′ – GOAL – Spain 3-0 Luxembourg! Iker Casillas’ first save happened more than halfway through the second half.
Despite doubts over their credentials, particularly after their disappointing exit at the 2014 World Cup, Spain will be desperate to return to their previous level of domination and defend their European title next summer.
With Spain only 1-0 ahead approaching the final 20 minutes of the contest, it could be argued that Luxembourg were unfortunate to lose by four goals, such is the effort that they put into the match.
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Santi Cazorla (Spain) – Broke the deadlock and was the only player in a Spain shirt who looked motivated throughout.
