Spain wins big, continues two-horse race with Italy

Coach Julen Lopetegui's team defeated Israel 4-1 in the fifth match of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Europe.

With home advantage and much better quality players, Spain proved to be too strong for Israel. Apart from causing trouble for goalkeeper David de Gea once thanks to a header from Refaelov, the visitors often had to retreat to focus on defense in the first half. Meanwhile, Spain easily took a two-goal lead with two low shots from David Silva and Vitolo.

David Silva (red shirt) has 29 goals and ranks fourth in the list of players who have scored the most goals for the team. Photo: Reuters

Striker Diego Costa could have opened the scoring early on when he headed just wide of the target from Dani Carvajal's cross early in the second half. Not to disappoint the home crowd any further, the Chelsea returnee made amends in the 51st minute with another header to make it 3-0.

Israel pulled one back thanks to a fine finish from Refaelov in the 76th minute, but the score did not stop there. Two minutes before the end of regulation time, Isco coolly fired a low shot into the left corner of the goal to seal a 4-1 victory for Spain.

Thanks to the big win over Israel, Spain continues to lead Group G of the European World Cup qualifiers with 13 points. The 2010 champions also have a very high number of goals (19) and a very high goal difference (+17) after five matches.

Meanwhile, thanks to the 2-0 win over Albania, Italy also has 13 points but has to settle for second place. The 2006 champions have a goal difference of +9.

After the last round of matches, Group G will stop playing until June 12. That is when Spain will visit Macedonia, while Italy will host Liechtenstein.

According to VNE