Yamal off the mark at World Cup as Spain thrash Saudi Arabia
· Citizen
Lamine Yamal made a goalscoring return for Spain as the European champions got their World Cup campaign back on track with a 4-0 drubbing of Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Spain’s Yamal opens his account
Yamal, 18, opened the scoring after just 10 minutes of the Group H game in Atlanta to put La Roja on course for a comfortable victory against an outclassed Saudi team.
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Spain had been determined to bounce back after being held to a shock 0-0 draw by lowly Cape Verde in their opening game last week, when their much-vaunted attack drew a blank.
But with teenaged starlet Yamal making his first start in two months since recovering from a hamstring problem, Spain launched an early onslaught that left the Saudis reeling.
Yamal ghosted in at the back post to tuck away Mikel Oyarzabal’s low cross before Oyarzabal scored twice in three minutes to leave Spain 3-0 up after just 24 minutes.
Saudi own goal
Spain bagged their fourth goal on 49 minutes, when Marc Cucurella’s shot was saved by Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais only to bounce off defender Hassan al-Tambakti into the net.
The win leaves Spain on top of Group H with four points after two matches.