Spain won by chance – Del Bosque

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque says his side won their Euro 2016 qualifier against Macedonia by chance on Tuesday.

The European champions stand one victory away from qualification for the tournament in France next year, having followed victory over Slovakia at the weekend with Tuesday’s 1-0 win in Skopje.

Juan Mata’s fortunate lob bamboozled Tome Pacovski eight minutes into the Group C clash, with Spain able to qualify with a win over Luxembourg next month.

However, Del Bosque told reporters: “We have not played well, we won by chance.

“It’s hard to explain but there was a great motivation for the first game and only a normal amount for the second.

“We have only scored the goal by chance. Once we got the goal we have stopped, we played slowly to feet and without any depth.

“We can not defend anyone, we played a little football but when it came to coordinating the three main issues of football – defending, creating and finishing – we have not done so.”

David De Gea was preferred to Iker Casillas in goal – despite having been dropped by Manchester United recently following speculation of a move to Real Madrid that never materialised.

“He is a mature guy and I had no fears that he would fail,” Del Bosque added.