A penalty a piece as Spain bag the win over Norway

Spain might have gone into this match with the events of almost 16 years ago looming over their heads ahead of hosting Norway at Mestalla. The last time the Norwegians visited the stadium, they registered a shock defeat against the Spanish in the first-leg of their Euro 2004 knock-out clash.

A rejuvenated Spain were confident going into this match, with the aim of erasing any remnants of last year's diabolical World Cup performances from memory. Interestingly, five members of that squad were present in Saturday night's starting line-up - David De Gea, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Marco Asensio all took their place on the field for the first whistle as Spain dominated possession for the first 15 minutes.

15 minutes was all the Spanish needed as Rodrigo emphatically opened the scoring at Mestalla with a left-foot volley from Jordi Alba's cross.

Jordi Alba himself will have been happy to claim the assist in front of fans in Valencia, having played at Mestalla for three years prior to moving to Barcelona.

This would set the precedent for the remainder of the first-half as Spain edged closer and closer to a second. Their clearest chance came with Rodrigo again, who very nearly claimed his and Spain's second but for Jarstein's lightning fast reactions.

Norway had their keeper to thank in the first-half who, almost single-handedly, managed to stop the Spanish from running away with the match.

We had to give some credit to Norway's forwards who managed to create a few chances of their own before the break, the closest of which came in the form of an Elyounoussi slide. Somehow though, he managed to divert the ball backwards from Henriksen's cross rather than goalwards.

Spain went into the break with all the momentum and it was up to Norway to change their fortunes going into the second-half.

So they did, after extended periods of Spanish possession, the Norwegians found themselves in the opposition box, creating chances. They looked threatening and eventually were gifted a chance by Inigo Martinez who brought Johnsen down in the box.

Bournemouth fans will be pleased as their man, Joshua King, scored an emphatic penalty to draw the score level.

That didn't phase the Spanish however, who came straight back down the other end with Morata. He was flying down the left flank until Jarstein, who had been faultless so far in the match, absolutely floored him and Spain had a penalty of their own.

None other than Sergio Ramos stepped up to take it, and did so in style. Spain reclaimed their lead with just less than 20 minutes of regulation time to play.

A flurry of substitutions broke up Spain's flow slightly and their momentum stalled. This was encapsulated by Marco Asensio's underwhelming final effort in front of goal which he blasted over the bar. Unfortunately for Norway, they were unable to take full advantage of Spain's dip in form and failed to register many threats to De Gea's goal in the second-half.

That was until we entered into added time in which Norway managed to gain a slight stronghold on proceedings. Johnsen, who had been heavily bandaged up after a clash of heads with Ramos, flicked a cross goalwards which was inches off target and had David De Gea at full stretch.

Norway continued their brief period of pressure right until the close of play but they had left it too late to orchestrate an equaliser and Spain claimed the first win of Group F for the Euro 2020 Qualifiers. Another plus for Spain - Jaime Mata registered some game time on his international senior debut.

Norway are at home to Sweden next on March 26th, while Spain travel to Malta where they will hope to continue their winning ways.