Spain defeat Macedonia 4-0 in World Cup qualifying game

Spain' s campaign to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals took another step forward as they defeated Macedonia 4-0 in Granada on Saturday night.

The win means Spain have 10 points from 4 games to leave them well placed to qualify directly for Russia from Group G.

Spain kicked off without several key players such as Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos and with Nacho and Marc Bartra forming an untried pair of central defenders, while Macedonia suffered a setback just before kick off when first choice goalkeeper Igor Alexsovski was injured in the warm up and had to be replaced by Stole Dimitrevski, who plays for Spanish second tier side, Gimnastic de Tarragona.

Spain keeper David de Gea was called into action first however and had to produce a reflex save to deny Stefan Spirovski' s close range header following a corner.

Both sides were looking to pressure high upfield and the play was generally disjointed although Spain had a double chance which saw Dimitrevski save from Morata before David Silva' s goal-bound effort from the rebound was headed clear.

Spain took the lead with a big slice of luck in the 34th minute when Darko Velkoski headed Koke' s cross from the right into his own net.

The second half began with Batra clearing a shot on the Spain goal after he had given the ball away with a poor clearance, while at the other end Silva failed to make contact with the goal gaping after good work from Vitolo.

Vitolo didn' t miss after Silva returned the favor in the 63rd minute as the Sevilla winger popped up at the far post to head home Spain' s second. It was his third goal in four appearances for his country.

Nacho Monreal scored Spain' s third goal with seven minutes left to play. The full back netted his first goal for his country following an elaborate move which ended with him volleying home a Dani Carvajal cross.

A minute later Aritz Adurz made it 4-0 with a low shot following a ball from Silva meaning the 35-year-old is the oldest player ever to score a competitive goal for Spain. Endit