Yamal off the mark as Spain sounds warning
Spain got its World Cup campaign back on track as impressive first-half displays from Mikel Oyarzabal and Lamine Yamal sealed an emphatic 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
After its shock goalless draw with tournament debutant Cape Verde, Spain looked back to its brilliant best here and moved top of Group H after its first two matches.
Having already shown flashes of early brilliance, Yamal needed just 10 minutes to mark his first start at a World Cup with a goal, as the talented teenager tapped Oyarzabal's teasing cross from the left past Mohammed Al Owais at the back post.
Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Al Owais was then on his toes to deny Alex Baena an effort on goal after he was cleverly picked out by Yamal, but Spain's persistence eventually prevailed when Oyarzabal struck twice in three minutes to put the game beyond reach.
After Saudi Arabia failed to deal with a corner, Dani Olmo's snapshot was flicked on by Aymeric Laporte and Saud Abdulhamid was caught out by Oyarzabal, who took a touch before finishing into the bottom-right corner.
Oyarzabal brought up his brace soon after with a cushioned volley from close range, and the Real Sociedad man came within inches of a first-half hat-trick nine minutes before the break, but his outside-of-the-foot attempt clipped the crossbar after Al Owais gifted him possession.
With the damage done at half-time, Luis de la Fuente chose to replace Oyarzabal and Yamal, but Spain increased their advantage four minutes after the restart when Marc Cucurella's shot was saved, only for the rebound to hit the unfortunate Hassan Al Tambakti and roll into the net.
La Roja continued to pile on the pressure to add further gloss to the scoreline, but Pedro Porro's stinging drive and a Ferran Torres header were repelled by Al Owais, with the latter also seeing a stoppage-time strike ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
