Spain continue path to Russia, vital wins for Serbia, Iceland

SPAIN continued their path to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia with a crushing 8-0 win away to Liechtenstein yesterday while Serbia and Iceland claimed vital victories in other groups.

The 2010 champions Spain had little trouble in dispatching minnows Liechtenstein on a flurry of goals from Sergio Ramos, Isco, David Silva, doubles from Iago Aspas and Alvaro Morata, and an own goal.

Italy beat Israel 1-0 to remain three points behind in Group G. In Group D, a second half rocket from Aleksandar Kolarov earned 10-man Serbia a 1-0 win away to Ireland to close in on qualification.

Wales went second with a 2-0 win in Moldova but Austria were held 1-1 by Georgia and are on the brink.

And in the tight Group I, Iceland defeated Ukraine 2-0 to move level with leaders Croatia, who were beaten 1-0 in Turkey.

There are two rounds remaining in European qualifying, to be played fromOct 5-10, with the top team in each group progressing automatically and the best eight runners-up entering play-offs.

Spain had shown superb form to dispatch group rivals Italy on Saturday and were instantly on top against Liechtenstein.

Ramos headed in a set piece with just three minutes played and they never looked back.

Morata, Isco and Silva all struck before halftime and there was little let up after the break.

Morata netted again between Aspas claiming his own brace and Maximilian Goppel put through his own goal to complete the rout.

“The World Cup is getting closer all the time,” Ramos said. “The win over Italy gave us a big boost but this game was a different challenge.

“There were 80,000 in the Santiago Bernabeu that was not the case here and we had to deal with that. We are a good mix of experienced players and younger players coming through. We have the chance to do something important in Russia but first we have to qualify.”

Italy are not yet out of it but, three points and several goals behind Spain, have little chance of finishing top.

Nonetheless, they kept up the pressure as Ciro Immobile’s 53rd minute header from an Antonio Candreva defeated Israel.

In the other game Albania drew 1-1 Macedonia to drop six points behind Italy and all but out of contention.

“We needed a win today. We got it and it was important,” Candreva said. “In these games you should score soon, but the result was positive.

“Criticism after the defeat in Spain is part of our job. We are a team that has done good things. The defeat in Madrid hurt, but after it we looked at our mistakes and I think today we did a good job.”

Serbia won playing the last 20 minutes in Dublin without Nikola Maksimovic, red carded for hauling down Daryl Murphy.

Kolarov had earlier given Serbia the lead with a brilliant finish off the bar from Filip Kostic’s assist.

“I thought we played very, very well,” Ireland boss Martin O’Neill told broadcaster RTE. “But we’re not beaten, far from it, we have the last two games we must win.”

Ireland dropped to third, five points behind Serbia and one behind Wales, who triumphed in Moldova on late goals from Hal Robson-Kanu and Aaron Ramsey.

The Serbian position is strengthened by Wales still having to meet Ireland.

“It was a win, a good win,” Wales manager Chris Coleman told Sky Sports. “Not our best performance over 90 minutes but it was going to be tough.

“We needed to be patient and not get frustrated. It is hard to come here and break them down.”

Austria, five behind Wales, are all but out after they only had Louis Schaub’s goal to cheer at home against Georgia, who had led through Valeriane Gvilia.

And in Group I, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s second half double lifted Euro 2016 surprise package Iceland over Ukraine. They go level with Croatia on 16 points.

Turkey, who beat the Croats thanks to Cenk Tosun’s 75th minute strike, are on 14 along with Ukraine. Eliminated Finland won 1-0 at lastplaced Kosovo. – dpa