Coming into the contest on the back of just one defeat from their last 26 international outings (W21, D4), Spain knew the importance of continuing their momentum ahead of the FIFA World Cup (WC) finals this summer.
Luis de la Fuente named a star-studded lineup for La Roja, and they quickly gained control of proceedings against Serbia, even if Alex Baena struck wastefully over from a promising position.
Undeterred, Spain’s positive start was soon rewarded, as Fermin Lopez’s clever ball into the box was clinically dispatched into the far corner by Oyarzabal.
Having scored 2+ goals in 13 of their last 14 home internationals, the hosts remained the dominant side as the first half progressed, with Lamine Yamal curling a long-range effort against the post, before Fermin saw a low strike thwarted by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The one-way traffic showed no signs of letting up as half-time approached, and Spain deservedly doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when man-of-the-moment Oyarzabal found a pocket of space on the edge of the box and unleashed an unstoppable strike beyond a helpless Milinkovic-Savic, marking the Real Sociedad man’s 17th goal contribution in his last 10 caps (G11, A6).
Armed with a comfortable two-goal cushion, La Roja took their foot off the gas at the start of the second period, as Unai Simón saved smartly from Filip Kostic. That was the best chance Serbia were able to create, as despite rotating several of their key players, Spain continued to control proceedings.
A third goal duly arrived with time ticking into the final 20 minutes, with debutant Victor Munoz sweeping a superb outside-of-the-foot finish into the corner after a neat flick from Ferran Torres.
De la Fuente’s side could’ve added further gloss to the scoreline late on when Torres and Dani Olmo saw a pair of close-range efforts denied by Milinkovic-Savic, but those misses counted for little as Spain eased through the closing stages to secure an impressive victory. As for Serbia, defeat marks just their second away loss in seven matches (W2, D3), compounding their disappointment of missing out on WC qualification.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)