Barysaw (Belarus) : A solitary first-half strike by David Silva was enough for reigning European champions Spain to win 1-0 in Belarus in Euro 2016 qualifying in coach Vicente del Bosque’s 100th game in charge.
The Manchester City star struck on the stroke of half-time at the Borisov Arena in Barysaw to give the Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 winners a fifth win in six qualifiers in Group C as they close in on a place at next year’s tournament in France.
Spain remain second in the group, three points behind leaders Slovakia.
More importantly, La Roja remain three points better off than third-placed Ukraine, who were 3-0 winners at home to Luxembourg earlier in the day.
One year and one day after their infamous 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands at the World Cup in Brazil, this was a potential banana skin of a fixture for the Spanish with the home-based players in the Belarus squad in the middle of their domestic season.