The last time the Nations League Champions played a qualifier, they were beaten by table-topping Scotland, in what was their first ECQ loss in 14 years.
La Furia Roja knew the pressure was on them to get a positive result away at a strong Georgian side who needed the win to try and get a stranglehold on second place in Group A.
The hosts were met with a quick high press from the start, as the visitors tried to gain an early lead in Tbilisi. Georgia’s stubborn defence could only hold out for 22 minutes as Marco Asensio floated a ball from the right wing into the middle of the box, where Alvaro Morata jumped highest to rifle a header past Giorgi Mamardashvili.
That lead was doubled within five minutes as Fabián Ruiz’s low cross, which was intended for Morata, was instead deflected in by Solomon Kvirkvelia.
A third goal nearly came within 90 seconds of the restart, but Ruiz was adjudged to be marginally offside before putting the ball in the back of the net. Just as the hosts thought they could make it to HT only down by two goals, Spain scored their third.
This time Dani Olmo got himself on the scoresheet, as he recovered from his first shot being blocked to fire a low strike into the bottom left-hand corner. The fourth swiftly followed as Ruiz won the ball and passed to Morata, who played a quick one-two with the midfielder to tap the ball into an open goal for his second and La Furia Roja’s fourth.
Spain got off to a poor start in the second half when the ball fumbled around the box before Giorgi Chakvetadze scuffed a shot that slowly rolled under an embarrassed Unai Simon, who conceded from the hosts’ first shot of the game. Just as the game looked to be coasting to the end, Morata completed his hat-trick with Mikel Merino sliding a perfectly weighted pass into the path of the Atletico Madrid striker, who smashed the ball into the net.
Substitute Nico Williams made it six moments later, cutting in from the left before chopping back onto his left foot to fire past a helpless Mamardashvili.
Shortly after, 16-year-old Lamine Yamal put himself in the record books as Spain’s youngest-ever player became their youngest scorer, thrashing in Williams’ cutback into the top left from the bench. Victory sees Luis de la Fuente’s men rise above both the hosts and Norway into second place with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Georgia drop to fourth place on goal difference as they lose ground in their hopes to qualify for their first major tournament as an independent nation.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alvaro Morata (Spain)
