Euro 2016: Spain beat Czech as late Pique header breaks down Cech wall

Petr Cech had been a wall and guarded the goal for the Czechs successfully for 86 minutes but then defender Gerard Pique used his head to rescue Spain in their Euro 2016 opener and beat the resolute goalkeeperThe Barcelona defender struck a late winner as the defending champions opened their Euro 2016 campaign with a 10 victory over the Czech RepublicPique headed a late winner with three minutes left on the clock in Spains Group D opener in Toulouse on MondaySpains defender Gerard Pique R scores a goal past Czech Republics goalkeeper Petr Cech L during the Euro 2016 group D football match between Spain and Czech Republic at the Stadium Municipal in Toulouse on Monday PicAFPSpain 2008 and 2012 European champions may have been dominant throughout the game but unable to break down the Czechs and looked like they would be drawing a blank until Pique struckSpains buildup to the tournament wasnt as smooth as they would have liked with a sex scandal involving goalkeeper De Gea raring its ugly head last weekCoach Vicente del Bosque though showed his faith in the Manchester United shotstopper by handing him the gloves ahead of legendary Iker CasillasThe Czechs have to thank Arsenal keeper Cech for not losing by a bigger numberSpain were repeatedly frustrated by the Czechs stubborn defense which finally fell apart when Pique got his head to Iniestas brilliant cross towards the back post in the 87th minuteRoman Hubnik almost scored an own goal while Alvaro Morata and Jordi Alba were denied by Cech at the Stadium MunicipalSpain spent most of the game camped inside the Czech half and are now level with Croatia after their 10 win over Turkey on SundaySpain were on the attack from the go and in the 16th minute fashioned their first real chance with rightback Juanfran sending David Silva through on the right flank for the Manchester City man to fire in a perfect delivery for Morata Cech however was well positioned to block the Juventus strikers firsttimer from close rangeThe Czechs were defending with plenty of heart and only a desperate sliding tackle from centreback Tomas Sivok stopped Juanfrans short delivery reaching Morata as the Spaniards edged closerWhen Iniesta picked up a mishit clearance just outside the area to set up Morata the Juventus striker feinted before flashing a low drive wide of Cechs far post on the half hourIniesta recovered from a knock on the ankle and with Cech off his line sent an audacious chip from 35 yards metres wide of the post Cech was forced into action twice before the interval the keeper diving to parry Jordi Albas angled shot from the left side of the area then rushing out to block at the feet of Silva as he prepared to pull the trigger after being set up by JuanfranA counterattack involving Czech captain Tomas Rosicky gave Tomas Necid the chance to test De Gea from the edge of the area but the keeper saved comfortablyCech came under more intense pressure in another onesided half after the restart the keeper desperately turning the deflection from a Morata pass around the post before blocking Ramoss effort from inside the area from the resulting cornerAfter Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz came on to replace the misfiring Morata De Gea had Cesc Fabregas to thank when he produced a spectacular overhead kick to keep Theodor Gebre Selassis header out following a cornerFabregas was replaced by Thiago Alcantara soon after and Spains pressure intensified but to no avail till Pique headed one in