Morata & Nolito make goalscoring Spain look formidable again

The two forwards propelled la Roja to a 3-0 win over Turkey, and the way their attackers clicked is ominous for everyone else at Euro 2016

Goals were the only thing missing. Spain dominated from start to finish in the Euro 2016 opener against Czech Republic on Monday, but needed a late winner from Gerard Pique to claim all three points. For all their possession, territory and control, they found the goals hard to come by. Against Turkey, however, everything clicked.

No team at Euro 2016 had won a game by more than two prior to this one and in all 20 matches in this tournament before Spain met Turkey on Friday, all had gone into the last five minutes with only one goal in it.

Spain had threatened to do that against the Czechs in Toulouse, but Alvaro Morata fired straight at Petr Cech and Nolito was not involved as much as he would have liked. For all Andres Iniesta's brilliance in their Group D debut, it took a leap of faith from Pique to win it for la Roja .

With that test negotiated, coach Vicente del Bosque sent a clear message to his players by picking the same XI for the game against Turkey. And this time there was much more fluency in attack. Nolito set up Morata for the first goal, a fine header after 34 minutes, and the Celta Vigo forward poked home the second moments later after the Turkish defence failed to clear Cesc Fabregas' scooped pass.

Morata made it 3-0 three minutes into the second half after fine work by Iniesta and Jordi Alba and could have had a hat-trick as he headed wide a little later on. After struggling to find space in their game against the Czechs, they carved Turkey open almost at will and now need only a point against second-placed Croatia on Tuesday to secure first place in Group D.

How they perform in that match will give a clearer idea of whether they can go on to win this tournament for a third time in succession, but their win over Turkey means they are one of only three teams to start Euro 2016 with back-to-back victories so far. France and Italy are the other two.