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European Qualifiers round-up: Spain earn vital win as Slovakia impress

Spain's forward Alvaro Morata (C) celebrates after scoring a goal against Ukraine
Image: Alvaro Morata: Celebrates scoring the only goal of the game for Spain

Alvaro Morata scored in his first start for Spain to help secure a 1-0 win at home over Ukraine and sole possession of second place in Group C, while Slovakia retained its spot at the top.

Starting in place of the injured Diego Costa, Morata chipped in the game's only goal in the 18th minute after receiving an exquisite pass from Jorge 'Koke' Resurreccion.

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Terry Gibson and Luis Garcia both said that Isco is becoming Spain's most important player after he starred in their 1-0 win over Ukraine

It also took their unbeaten streak on Spanish soil to 30 straight competitive matches, a run dating back to June 2003.

A minute of silence was held at Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville before kickoff in memory of victims of the Germanwings airplane tragedy.

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Timofei Kalachev scored in Belarus' 2-1 away win in Macedonia

Slovakia kept Luxembourg at the bottom of the group from first-half goals by Adam Nemec, Vladimir Weiss and Peter Pekarik in a 3-0 win. Belarus fought back 2-1 at Macedonia to leapfrog the hosts into fourth place.

Slovenia remained in the second automatic qualification place in England's Group E by routing bottom-placed San Marino 6-0. 

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Granit Xhaka scored Switzerland's second goal in their 3-0 win over Estonia

Switzerland stayed third after beating Estonia 3-0, making it 11 goals without conceding on a three-game winning run.

More from European Qualifiers

A Russian player was hit by a flare after 20 seconds in Montenegro before a brawl between the two teams' players eventually resulted in the match being abandoned on Friday.

Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was taken to a hospital after collapsing to the field when he was struck on the head by a flare. It was 30 minutes before the game resumed.

But after Russia's Roman Shirokov missed a penalty in the 66th minute with the score at 0-0, players and staff from both teams shoved one another.

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Bayern Munich's David Alaba scored from 25 yards as Austria thrashed Liechtenstein 5-0 in the Euro Qualifiers

Russia and Montenegro are third and fourth respectively in Group G, both with five points from four games. Austria remained top with a 5-0 rout of Liechtenstein, four points ahead of Sweden, who beat Moldova 2-0 thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic's double.

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