MANCHESTER – Manchester City star David Silva bagged two goals and an assist as Spain romped to a 5-0 win over Costa Rica in an international friendly.
The hosts opened the scoring in the sixth minute as Jordi Alba got on the end of David Silva’s low cross and fired into the corner of the net.
Spain continued to threaten and Ãlvaro Morata drew two saves from Danny Carvajal shortly after the goal.
The Chelsea striker’s persistence finally paid off in the 23rd minute, when Carvajal failed to deal with Silva’s cross and allowed him to poke the ball in for Spain’s second goal.
The hosts had several opportunities to add to their lead in the first half and Carvajal was forced into action again before the break by first Isco and then Morata. Although they failed to capitalise, the 2010 world champions went into the break 2-0 up.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the second half. Silva all but wrapped up the game in the 51st minute, capitalising on a mistake at the back to score Spain’s third goal.
The Man City man scored his second four minutes later from a long-range shot with the help of some poor goalkeeping from Carvajal, who let the ball go through his grasp.
Andrés Iniesta put the cherry on top in the 73rd minute with a magnificent solo goal. The veteran Barcelona star was allowed to shoot from range and fired into the bottom corner.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Spain bossed possession throughout the game and their victory hardly looked in doubt at any point. They sent out a serious statement of intent with next year’s World Cup in Russia looming overhead.
