Spain have given themselves a half-time lead away at Belarus after David Silva scored moments before the interval at the Borisov Arena.

La Roja could have taken the lead inside two minutes when Pedro was played through on goal but the Barcelona attacker was thwarted by the onrushing Andrey Gorbunov.

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On 10 minutes, the defending European champions threatened to open the scoring again as a slide-rule pass from Cesc Fabregas found Alvaro Morata, but the Juventus star's shot was narrowly wide of the post.

Moments later, Belarus remained on the back foot as Pedro found space on the left side of the penalty area before firing an effort against Maksim Bordachev's legs.

Spain continued to dominate the early exchanges and came close again after Morata's corner found Sergio Ramos at the back post. However, the Real Madrid defender's header was saved by Gorbunov.

Midway through the half, Silva thought he had earned a penalty for the visitors after he went down under a challenge from Bordachev, who was already on a yellow card, but the referee waved away the midfielder's appeals.

On 32 minutes, Barcelona full-back Jordi Alba almost netted a spectacular goal for La Seleccion when his first-time volley flew inches wide of Gorbunov's goal.

Minutes later, Spain's persistent attacking nearly yielded the lead after Santi Cazorla teed up Fabregas before the Chelsea midfielder fired his effort straight at the Belarussian keeper.

However, La Roja finally broke through the home side's rearguard in the final minute of the half as Gorbunov came out to punch a cross clear, but his miss gave Silva the straightforward task of steering the ball into an empty net.

Written by
Chris O'Keefe