Solid Spain Hit Three Past Chile

Spain saw off Chile at El Madrigal thanks to a first-half penalty from David Villa and then two second-half strikes, one from Fernando Torres and one from Santi Cazorla.

Chile will still be fuming with the decision that saw them go behind as Albert Riera appeared to fling himself to the floor to win a penalty. However, they could have no complaints about the second, which was a brilliantly taken goal by Torres, or the third, which took a fortunate deflection on it's way in from the boot of Cazorla.

Despite the scoreline the South American side were not outplayed totally and they matched the Spaniards for a lot of the game, but failed to ever break down their solid defence.

Vicente Del Bosque will be pleased with the performance from his team, who looked confident throughout the match and in the end won comfortably.

Solid Start

With Spain unbeaten in over two years it was no surprise that Del Bosque started with a strong side from the off, with Villa alone upfront and a five man midfield supporting him. The hosts started well in a far from full El Madrigal too, Villa seeing an early rebound go just wide after Claudio Bravo had come out to block his initial effort.

Even in the early stages it was clear that the midfield was going to be the key area, with both sides often having to go backwards to retain possession at times. Nevertheless, the game was been played at a decent pace and Fabián Orellana and Humberto Suazo were looking busy upfront as they closed down the Spanish back line. The former was the first to force Iker Casillas into a dive, but his shot went just wide of the post with the 'keeper at nearly full stretch. Minutes later Suazo pounced on a lose ball and shot at the Real Madrid man and whilst Spain were dominating the game Chile were looking dangerous.

The battle of the midfield was proving to fairly dogged and Marcos Senna was extremely lucky not to see a yellow card as he flew in with challenges on the Chilean players. Indeed, the first player to see the inevitable card was in white, as Cristián Álvarez tripped Xavi in the center of the pitch rather recklessly. Just minutes later and Spain had an opportunity to take the lead as Albert Riera, realising he wasn't going to get the ball, flung himself over Ismael Fuentes in the box, earning a penalty for the home side. Villa duly converted, much to the frustration of the well populated away section, and Spain had the lead with just seven minutes left in the half. Chile tried hard to get back into it before the whistle but they failed to do so and the referee was surrounding at half-time by angry Chileans telling him what they thought of the penalty.

Red Devils

With the interval over came the inevitable changes as Senna, Carles Puyol and Casillas went off to be replaced by Santi Cazorla, Carlos Marchena and Pepe Reina. With no sign of another striker Villa was still working hard upfront, but despite getting an early shot in to test Bravo he couldn't put pressure on the backline. When he did try and tackle he managed to pick himself up a booking and with just ten minutes gone in the half Del Bosque took him off to be surpisingly replaced by Fernando Torres. One Liverpudlian soon became two as Alvaro Arbeloa came on to replace Sergio Ramos and the right back created a create chance as he cut the ball back to Cazorla to smack just wide of the goal.

Spain were looking a lot more threatening with Torres on the pitch and with twenty minutes gone in the half he scored the second goal with a typically great finish. Xavi popped a ball out to him on the right and he dummied to shoot before turning back and bending a shot around the 'keeper with his left foot from about 8 yards out. It was no more than Spain deserved for some enterprising attacking play and they began to play it around with confidence after the goal.

With the lead improved Del Bosque gave a debut to Fernando Llorente with twenty minutes left - the Basque coming on to replace the always consistent Xavi. Llorente showed just what he can offer to the side early on too, as he first headed over from a ball into the box and then chested down nicely for a midfielder to pick up. The game was beginning to get spread a little and Spain were finding more space behind the back of the Chilean defence. Llorente very nearly added a third but he couldn't divert a cross from Cesc Fabregas into the goal from close range.

Even though the game was effectively over as a contest Chile continued to fight hard for the ball and they were unlucky to concede a third late on in the match. Cazorla struck a shot from about 25 yards which seemed to be covered by Bravo but it struck the foot of Carlos Carmona and spun wickedly past the 'keeper. It was a fortunate goal but it was hard to argue with the scoreline, bearing in mind Spain had been by far the more composed side. With just three minutes left after the goal the referee soon called a halt to proceedings and yet another solid performance from the European Champions.

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