Tue Jun 10 14:20:47 2008

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Villa's hat trick leads Spain over Russia

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Innsbruck, Austria (Sports Network) - Spain coach Luis Aragones made a tactical change by starting David Villa alongside Fernando Torres at forward, and Villa delivered by scoring three times in a 4-1 victory over Russia in Group D of the Euro finals Tuesday.

Spain usually plays Torres as its lone forward, but to provide more offense for the tournament, Villa was inserted into the lineup. The Valencia striker scored in the 20th, 44th and 75th minutes for the first hat trick in the finals since 2000.

Villa celebrated his last goal by running to the bench to hug Torres, who left the game early in the second half. Patrick Kluivert was the last to have three goals in the finals when he led the Netherlands to a 6-1 win over Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals in 2000.

Spain, which got its fourth goal from Cesc Fabregas in the extra time, extended its amazing unbeaten streak to 19 games in the rain at Tivoli Neu Stadium.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Russia's goal in the final five minutes. With Russia missing star forwards Andrey Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebnyak, Pavlyuchenko showed he was capable of being a threat in the rest of the tournament.

Russia's attack was dangerous through the first 15 minutes - even without its top strikers - but Spain escaped its sluggish start without any damage.

Then in the 20th minute, Villa scored his first goal to cap a quick counter for Spain. Xavi started the play by forcing a turnover deep in Spain's end and sent a long pass to Torres on the left side.

With Torres making a run, Villa charged in from the left side to join the rush. Torres was lucky to maintain possession after a challenge from Russia defender Denis Kolodin inside the area, but then set up Villa with a perfect pass.

Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had charged out to make a play on Torres, and Villa beat two Russian players to the ball to easily score into the empty net.

Russia's Konstantin Zyryanov nearly punished Spain in the 23rd minute when its defense stood and watched a ball go through the area but drilled a shot off the left post.

Villa nearly returned the earlier assist from Torres on a quick Spain counter, but Akinfeev charged out to deflect the shot. Torres had another chance in the 24th minute but was again denied by Akinfeev.

Spain added its second goal just before halftime when midfielder Andres Iniesta made a brilliant run up the right side to set up Villa. Iniesta avoided a pair of Russian players and drew a third before threading a pass inside the area to Villa.

Villa drilled a shot between Akinfeev's legs to double Spain's advantage in the 44th minute.

With the two-goal cushion, Spain took Torres off in the 54th minute and brought midfielder Fabregas off the bench to strengthen its midfield.

Villa continued to play well as the lone forward, a role he used to play before Torres emerged as one of the world's top players. He came close to getting his hat trick in the 58th but had a hard shot was saved by Akinfeev.

Villa wouldn't be denied on his next chance, though. He made a nice individual effort to lose a defender just inside the area and drilled the ball inside the left post in the 75th.

The hat trick was the first for Spain in the history of the Euro tournament and Villa now has 17 goals in 32 international appearances.

Spain started to relax with the huge lead and Pavlyuchenko added some anxious moments for Spaniards after he scored in the 86th for Russia. His goal came off a corner kick that was played to the back post, where Pavlyuchenko easily beat Spain goalie Iker Casillas with a header.

Russia nearly cut the deficit to one goal minutes later when Sergei Semak had a little space in the area but failed to get off a good shot and Casillas made an easy save.

Spain quickly ended any suspense when Fabregas scored on a diving header in the 90th minute to seal the victory.

Spain (1-0-0) will try to secure a spot in the next round when it plays Sweden on Saturday. Russia (0-1-0) will try to bounce back against defending champion Greece on Saturday.