Pedro spurs surging Spaniards past Belarus

Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriguez netted a hat-trick as Spain comfortably made it two wins from two in FIFA World Cup™ qualifying with a thumping 4-0 victory over Belarus in Minsk. Jordi Alba gave the world and European champions a 12th-minute lead as he was allowed to race onto Pedro's back-heel and round goalkeeper Sergei Veremko before slotting home. Eight minutes later Pedro latched onto a lovely pass from David Silva and chipped over the advancing Veremko, and the Tenerife-born player completed his first international treble with two further goals in the final quarter - first a lob from Xavi's pass following a swift counter-attack and then another neat finish 18 minutes from time. Spain coach Vicente del Bosque had made three changes to the side that started in last month's 1-0 win over Georgia, with Andres Iniesta, Roberto Soldado and the injured Gerard Pique replaced by Santi Cazorla, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas. However, the changes did little to damage Spain's rhythm as, in contrast to recent matches in which they have taken their time to unlock the opposing defence, the chances came thick and fast for the visitors early on. Fabregas was first to threaten, getting on the end of a defence-splitting pass by Silva, but his touch around Veremko took him slightly too wide and Stanislav Dragun recovered to deflect his effort onto the post. Silva should have then opened the scoring when he was picked out by Xavi's ball over the top but the Manchester City playmaker appeared to think he was in an offside position as he lazily buried the ball into the side-netting. The opener finally came, though, as Alba raced clear to collect a pass from Pedro before coolly converting his second international goal. And, before the 20-minute mark, Del Bosque's men had doubled their advantage. Silva timed his pass perfectly for Pedro's run in behind the Belarussian defence and he took one touch to get the ball out of his feet before delicately chipping over Veremko. Spain continued to dictate the play without feeling the need to desperately search for more goals after the interval, but more space eventually started to appear in a tired Belarussian defence in the final quarter and Pedro was quick to capitalise. He raced onto Xavi's through-ball to brilliantly chip Veremko on 68 minutes and then rounded the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into an empty net when he was fed by Fabregas soon after. There was nearly time for substitute David Villa to mark his return to competitive international football with a goal as he smacked a shot off the bar with nine minutes remaining, but for once Pedro could not put the rebound away as he slotted wide with the goal at his mercy. The victory moved Spain to the top of Group I alongside France. The two teams go head to head in Madrid on Tuesday. FIFA