Striker David Villa has escaped punishment for striking Honduras defender Emilio Izaguirre in the face during Spain’s 2-0 victory on Monday.

Villa was caught on camera hitting out at Izaguirre at a set-piece but the incident went unpunished at the time.

Fifa looked at the video but “found no grounds” to punish Villa, who scored both goals against the Hondurans.

The decision leaves the Barcelona striker free to play in Spain’s vital Group H clash with Chile on Friday.

Former Valencia star Villa was in scintillating form as favourites Spain earned their first win of the World Cup in South Africa.

As well as scoring twice – the first a fine individual goal – Villa hit the crossbar and missed a penalty against the Central Americans.

And after Monday’s game, the 28-year-old defended his actions to the Spanish media.

“It’s not something that I am proud of. They’re just instincts, in this case I wasn’t expecting Izaguirre to tread on me,” Villa told Spanish broadcaster Canal Plus.

“I was merely standing there and the reaction was to stick my arm out. I’ll try in future to keep my cool.”