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Madrid, April 1 (IANS) Spain took a step towards qualification for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar with a 3-1 win at home to Kosovo.
Spain went into the game after a 1-1 draw at home to Greece and a slightly fortunate 2-1 win in Georgia, which had raised questions about their effectiveness in front of goal and for the first half hour of their game against Kosovo the same questions as Spain controlled the ball, but failed to trouble Kosovo keeper Samir Ujkani apart from a shot from a narrow-angle from Alvaro Morata on Wednesday, Xinhua news reports.
The Spanish broke the back of the game with two goals in three minutes as Dani Olmo followed his winning goal in Georgia with a clipped finish into the corner of the net after a pass from Koke in the 34th minute.
Ferran Torres doubled the lead two minutes later when he collected the ball in Spain and advanced 30 yards before beating Ujkani with a low shot into the far post.
Luis Enrique's side could have added to that total at the start of the second half, but the Kosovo keeper saved well from Torres and Del Olmo and the visitors pulled a goal back in the 69th minute.
Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon came a long way off his line to clear but then lost the ball to Besar Halimi, who did fantastically well to then fire the ball into the Spanish goal from around 50 meters, despite the efforts of four defenders.
Kosovo's hopes didn't last for long as Spain substitute Gerard Moreno flicked home from a corner to assure the win with 15 minutes left to play. Spain have now taken seven points from a possible nine on the road to Qatar.
--IANS
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