Defending champions Spain got off to the perfect start in their Euro 2016 campaign on Monday as they recorded a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in Toulouse. Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was the goalscorer for Vicente del Bosque's side, in the 87th minute.
The first minutes of the game were dominated by Czech Republic, who had a lot of chances falling for them from setpieces. However, as the match progressed, Spain got the hang of the possession, as were expected of them, even if they couldn't create too many clearcut opportunities in front of goal.
David Silva, appearing in his 100th game for La Roja, was pretty impressive in the first half as he launched plenty of crosses from the right flank for the forwards and also used his dribbling prowess to make that cuts into the box and try a shot on goal. However, the Czech defence, along with experienced custodian Petr Cech gave praiseworthy performances.
Alvaro Morata remained a lively figure inside the Czech Republic box as well. The best chance of the half fell to the Juventus striker in the 16th minute, as good buildup saw Spain right-back Juanfran combining well with Silva, who crossed the ball to Morata inside the six-yard box. The 23-year-old's final shot on goal was met with a fine low save by Cech.
With the defending champions seeing plenty of possession, there was yet another chance falling the way of Morata. This time around as well, the star striker's shot across goal was saved by Cech.
In the 39th minute, Spain had one more chance to draw first blood, as left-back Jordi Alba this time, attempted a shot from way out of the box that seemed to be on its way to the bottom corner of the goal. However, Cech made the timely parry once again.
A massive chance was laid onto the path of Czech Republic defender Roman Hubnik in the 56th minute of the game as a freekick saw the 32-year-old just getting a touch on the ball which was goal-bound. However, David de Gea was aware and made the save.
Spain upped their ante in the second half, but the Czech defenders remained resilient. With 85 minutes reading in the clock and with the score being goalless, the likes of Silva, Thiago Alcantara and Aduriz had a go on goal on numerous occasions. However the goalless deadlock only broke in the 87th minute of the match as Pique headed a precise cross from Andres Iniesta perfectly.
The match also saw an incredible goalline clearance from Cesc Fabregas in the 64th minute of play, much similar to the clearance Jerome Boateng made on Sunday for Germany against Ukraine in Euro 2016.
