Denis Suarez rescues Spain U21 in Euro U21 championship

Denis Suarez's first-half strike secured a 1-0 win for Spain over 10-man Serbia at the European U21 Championship on Friday.

Having reached the semi-finals with a group game to spare, Spain coach Albert Celades changed his entire starting XI from the 3-1 win over Portugal on Tuesday.

Barcelona midfielder Suarez captained the side and scored the winner after 38 minutes, capping a fine Spanish move with a first-time finish.

erbia were reduced to 10 men two minutes later when their skipper Uros Djurdjevic picked up a second yellow card for an elbow on Mikel Merino.

The victory preserves Spain's perfect record at the tournament and they join England in the knockout stage.

The Spanish second string picked up from where their team-mates left off last Tuesday, dominating the first half and taking the lead through Suarez.

He hammered home after a flowing move involving Inaki Williams and Alvaro Odriozola.

They had opportunities to extend their advantage, with Carlos Soler guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance two minutes later.

A second goal would have been a fair reflection of Spain's first-half control but Serbia actually had the better of the early play and Milos Veljkovic squandered a golden opening after just four minutes, miscuing over from two yards.

But their tough task became that much harder just before the break when captain Djurdjevic received a second yellow card after catching Merino.

One goal down and with a man disadvantage, Serbia battled bravely in the second half but could not find an equaliser.

They went closest when Spain goalkeeper Pau Lopez - who spent last season on loan at Tottenham - tipped over a stinging effort from Andrija Zivkovic.

But their margin of defeat would have been greater but for the performance of their 'keeper Filip Manojlovic, who made smart saves from Suarez and Inaki Williams and one remarkable point-blank stop from Borja Mayoral.

Serbia:Manojlovic (8), Antonov (6), Veljkovic (6), Jovanovic (6), Filipovic (6), Maksimovic (7), Gacinovic (6), Lukic (6), Djurdjevic (3), Zivkovic (7), Radonjic (6) Subs: Ristic (6), Plavsic (6) Spain:Lopez (7), Gaya (7), Merino (7), Odriozola (7), Gonzalez (7), Suarez (9), Soler (8), Rodrigo (7), Mayoral (7), Williams (7), Oyarzabal (7) Subs: N/A