Spain vs. England: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Friendly

Goals from Mario Gaspar and Santi Cazorla helped Spain to a 2-0 friendly win over England in Alicante on Friday night.

The hosts were unable to breach a strong Three Lions defence until a remarkable volley from the full-back opened the scoring 20 minutes from full time. Cazorla's late strike gave the scoreline a more accurate reflection of the match, as Spain dominated the game from start to finish.

England boss Roy Hodgson named an experimental side, choosing to rest skipper Wayne Rooney. Spain were also trying out some new tactics initially, lining up with Diego Costa and Paco Alcacer up front with a diamond midfield supplying the bullets.

Gerard Pique has been the subject of plenty of scrutiny, and as noted by Ed Malyon of the Daily Mirror, he was again being targeted by some sections of the crowd:

In a cagey opening few minutes, Pique got the closest to an opening goal, stepping forward from the back and flashing a shot just wide. From there, the hosts started to tighten their grip on the proceedings, pushing the Three Lions further and further back through sustained possession.

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The loss of a player such as Thiago Alcantara, who was replaced by Arsenal man Cazorla after suffering an injury, would be enough to stifle the momentum of a lot of sides. But La Roja continued their meticulous probing of the England team, though Alcacer and Costa both failed to hit the target when well-placed.

England did carve out a couple of openings of their own, with Ross Barkley and Harry Kane occasionally flickering into life in the final third. However, they were pinned deep for the majority of the half and fortunate to get in at the break with the score at 0-0.

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Bleacher Report UK didn't enjoy a half that was lacking in ingenuity and impetus from either team:

A similar pattern was prevalent when the players emerged after the interval. Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta were maneuvering England around the pitch superbly yet lacked a final pass to secure the opening goal. Meanwhile, marshalled by the excellent Chris Smalling, the Three Lions were beginning to look increasingly capable of shutting Spain out.

Indeed, as Dermot Corrigan of ESPN.com noted, the front two didn't seem to jell as a pair:

A change in the system yielded the opening goal. With a little more space to work with in midfield, Cesc Fabregas lofted a head-high pass through to the rampaging Gaspar, who had to contort his body to get a foot on it. The fact that he was able to swivel, connect sweetly with his right foot and beat Joe Hart from the edge of the box represented some sensational technical execution.

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Here's a look at the Villarreal man's superb finish to give the hosts the lead, per Sporting Intelligence:

From there, England were forced to throw more caution to the wind, introducing Rooney in search of an equalising goal. The ploy merely opened up more space for Spain's intricate midfielders to work within, making a second for the hosts seem inevitable.

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Eventually, it came, and it was another wonderful goal, too, as Cazorla capitalised on excellent work from Nolito before tucking a neat finish past Hart. As we can see, per Squawka Football, the Arsenal midfielder is one of the most reliable sources of goals in the current Spain squad:

The game descended into a malaise after that goal, allowing the home side to draw adulation from their fans and enjoy a routine win.

After they had won all 10 of their qualifying matches for UEFA Euro 2016, this clash against the European champions was a more accurate test of England's credentials. There were some positives to take from the encounter, most notably the organisational skills that kept Spain at bay for long spells; ball retention and attacking incision remain areas Hodgson must address, though.

The tactics that Spain deployed for this one were experimental, and it's unlikely we'll see La Roja use this diamond system again. When you have an array of supreme attacking midfielders, it's foolish not to cater for their qualities, and while Spain won't be able to rely on stunning openers like this in every game, with more cerebral talents in the team, they're a more formidable opponent.

Reaction

England manager Hodgson remained upbeat despite the defeat, per audioboom.com:

Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque revealed that he will give other players a chance to impress against Belgium next week and he was happy with the performance against a strong side.

"Our intention in Brussels is to share out minutes between the players; that’s how we feel we can strengthen the team," per Joaquin Maroto of AS. "...It’s a prestigious result, against a strong and powerful national side who always posed a threat for us."