David Villa notched the first hat-trick of EURO 2008 as Spain romped to 4-1 victory over Russia in their tournament's opener on Tuesday. Substitute Cesc Fabrgeas was also on the scoresheet for Spain while Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Russia's consolation. Sweden face Greece in the other Group D match later in the day. Spain deservedly went ahead through Villa in the 20th minute, but much of the credit goes to Fernando Torres. The Liverpool striker robbed Denis Kolodin in the left hand side of the penalty area before feeding Villa for an easy tap in. Konstantin Zyrianov was unlucky not to draw Russia level midway through the first half when his low shot from inside the area struck the woodwork. Villa doubled Spain's lead one minute before the break when he ghosted behind Russia's defense to slot Andres Iniesta's neat pass between the legs of keeper Igor Akinfeev. The Valencia striker completed his hat-trick in the 75th minute to widen Russia's misery. He ran onto Fabregas' pass in the left side of the penalty area, cut inside Roman Shirokov and sent a low shot at the near post. Pavlyuchenko narrowed the deficit four minutes from time with a close-range header. Arsenal midfielder Fabregas rounded off a fine performance in stoppage time when he headed home on the rebound after Xavi's volley was parried by Akinfeev into his path.
