Euro 2016: Gerard Pique header sees Spain snatch late win against Czech Republic

Gerard Pique scored three minutes from time as Spain began their Euro 2016 campaign with a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic.

In the most one-sided game of the tournament so far, Vicente Del Bosque's side looked like they would not get any reward for their possession until the Barcelona defender headed in Andres Iniesta's cross.

The Czechs had held on after a string of fine saves from Petr Cech to deny Alvaro Morata and David Silva.

At the other end David De Gea was selected, despite newspaper allegations linking him to a case of sexual assault, and had to make a good save in stoppage time to deny Vladimir Darida.

The Spanish did just enough to clinch the three points but will need to be more clinical in front of goal when they face Turkey on June 17th.

Do the Spanish have the strike force to win the tournament? Vicente Del Bosque opted to start with Alvaro Morata, who has made more of an impact at Juventus this season when coming off the bench. He was wasteful with a couple of chances, while Nolito was often careless on the flanks. Aduriz did not make much of an impact when he came off the bench but may be the man Del Bosque turns to for the next game.

Petr Cech (Czech Republic): The game was billed as the battle of the goalkeepers. While David De Gea did not have much to do, his opposite number was equal to everything that the Spanish threw at him... until the 87th minute. He was commanding throughout on his 121st cap.

Spain: De Gea 5, Juanfran 6, Ramos 5, Pique 5, Alba 6, Busquets 5, Iniesta 8, Fabregas 6, Silva 7, Nolito 6, Morata 5. Subs: Aduriz 5, Alcantara 5, Pedro 4.

Czech Republic: Cech 8, Kaderabek 6, Sivok 5, Hubnik 7, Limbersky 5, Plasil 4, Darida 5, Gebre Selassie 6, Rosicky 6, Krejci 6, Necid 5. Subs: Lafata 5, Sural 4, Pavelka 4.

16' - CHANCE FOR MORATA! Silva makes a clever run in the box and slides the ball across and the Juventus striker's sliding effort from six yards is kept out by Cech.

29' - MORATA EFFORT! The striker sends in a low drive from just inside the area which Cech palms behind for a corner.

39' - INIESTA SHOT: Iniesta tries to catch out Cech with a 35 yard lob that goes over, decent effort.

40' - ALBA CHANCE! Iniesta is at the centre again, sliding the ball through to Alba who fired a shot in from a tight angle that is beaten away by Cech.

41' - SILVA SHOT! Juanfran finds Silva who gets a shot in on the turn but Cech is quick to come off his line and smother the effort.

65' - SELASSIE HEADER! Darida wins a corner from the right in a rare attack. It is played short, the cross comes in and Selassie's header at the back post is a dangerous one but Fabregas does brilliantly to clear off the line.

79' - ADURIZ EFFORT! Nolito's delivery is punched clear by Cech. Another cross comes in and Aduriz's glancing header goes wide, that was a good chance.

87' - GOAL! Spain 1-0 Czech Republic. Pique heads the ball in from close range after Iniesta's cross, the Czechs fail to step up following the corner.

90'+2 - DE GEA SAVE! Darida unleashes a fierce effort from inside the area that is parried by the keeper

Spain have not conceded a first-half goal in each of their last 10 matches at the European Championships. The last time they conceded in the opening 45 minutes was against Greece in 2008.