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Spain secured a commanding 7-1 win against Georgia in the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers on Friday, September 8.
Georgia entered this contest on the back of one win, one draw and one defeat in their first three games. Their last outing was a 2-0 defeat against Scotland away from home as hopes of qualification dwindled. Manager Willy Sagnol named a strong lineup for this game against a strong opposition.
La Roja, on the other hand, defeated Norway 3-0 before falling 2-0 against Scotland, who are on a perfect 12 points from four games. This has left Jose Luis De La Fuente's men with work to do should they harbor hopes of qualifying as group winners. Bearing that in mind, he named a strong lineup.
Spain made a commanding start to the game as they looked to keep Georgia as far away from their goal as possible. It took them 22 minutes to open the scoring, but the floodgates were well and truly open after that as La Roja scored four first-half goals in a rampant display.
Captain Alvaro Morata bagged a brace on either side of goals from Dani Olmo and an own goal as De La Fuente's men went into the interval with a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Georgia made three half-time changes and they seemed to work as substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze pulled one back for them after 49 minutes. However, that was all the hosts were going to get from their team as their visitors struck again.
Morata bagged his hat-trick in the 65th minute, before substitutes Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal took over and got on the scoresheet themselves.
Spain secured a thumping win over Georgia and on that note, let's take a look at the five talking points from the game.
#5. Spain blew Georgia away in the first half with exceptional football
Spain made a dominant start to the game and barely allowed Georgia a sniff of their goal throughout the game. The first half was so one sided that the hosts did not even attempt a single shot, let alone hit the target. They opened the scoring after 22 minutes as Marco Asensio assisted Alvaro Morata.
An own goal doubled their lead just six minutes later, before Dani Olmo made it 3-0 with a lovely goal after 38 minutes. Morata bagged a first-half brace just before the break as Fabian Ruiz assisted him for La Roja's fourth of the night.
The visitors attempted 14 shots in the first period, hitting the target five times and scoring from four of those in a ruthless display.
#4. Georgia bagged a consolation goal much to the crowd's delight
On a rainy night in Tbilisi, several home and away fans turned up to support their respective teams and were as noisy as it gets despite the relentless downpour. While the first half did not bring any joy to the Georgian crowd, they were treated to a moment of joy just four minutes after the restart.
Midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze bagged a consolation goal in the 49th minute after some questionable goalkeeping by Unai Simon, essentially throwing away his clean sheet.
#3. Skipper Alvaro Morata bags a well-taken hat-trick
Having scored two well-worked first-half goals, Spain's captain on the night was hungry for more and eager to get on the scoresheet once again.
Despite being comfortably ahead, La Roja continued to push forward and create chances as they showed their hosts no mercy. Substitute Miguel Merino provided a lovely assist for Morata to tap-in and complete his hat-trick.
Morata now has 33 goals for his country in 65 games, well within the reach of Raul Gonzalez with 44 in 2nd place.
#2. Lamine Yamal becomes Spain's youngest ever player and scorer
Yamal was handed an unexpected appearance in the first half of the game following an injury to Dani Olmo, and came on in the 44th minute. That made him the youngest-ever player to play for the Spanish men's team aged just 16.
He created even more history midway through the second period as he bagged his team's seventh goal of the night. Fellow substitute Nico Williams provided the assist for the goal with a lovely pass into the teenager's path. Yamal then finished with aplomb to etch his name in the history books.
#1. Spain will need to keep winning to qualify
Following this emphatic result, Spain's record reads two wins in three games as they are second in Group A on six points, with Scotland comfortably first with 12 points from four games.
With five games left, La Roja will look to put their best foot forward as they will try and win each game from here on out to ensure they qualify as group winners for a favorable draw in the Group Stage next year.
