Gareth Bale netted a brace to help Wales beat Austria 2-1 at a raucous Cardiff City Stadium and move into the Path A Play-Off final for a place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
After making a nervy start to the game, Bale’s sensational free-kick gave Wales a 1-0 lead, before the Real Madrid man made it 2-0 early in the second-half with a powerful effort from inside the area.
Austria were far from their best, as Wales regularly carved them open, but they pulled a goal back when Marcel Sabitzer’s deflected effort beat a helpless Wayne Hennessey with just under half an hour remaining.
Wales had a handful of very good chances to restore their two-goal cushion, but were unable to take them, as the closing stages were played out in front of a nervous home crowd.
But, despite late Austrian pressure, Rob Page’s men were able to hold on and keep their dream of reaching a first World Cup finals since 1958 very much alive.
Given their lacklustre display in the group stage – they only qualified for the play-offs by dint of their performance in the UEFA Nations League – Austria perhaps went into the game under the radar. However, they made clear right from the off that they were here to do business, as they started on the front foot and looked the more threatening side.
It was Wales who had the first effort on goal, though, when captain David Alaba was pressured and gave possession away, before Connor Roberts played a pass to Daniel James – whose left-footed shot was straight at Heinz Lindner.
Moments later though, the visitors had a golden opportunity to take the lead when Sabitzer’s incisive pass played Christoph Baumgartner in on goal. The forward had time and space to place his shot, but he saw the ball come back off the crossbar after what appeared to be a vital intervention at the final moment from the diving Neco Williams.
Franco Foda’s side saw the majority of possession in the first-half, but Wales were always a threat on the counter-attack. James was heavily involved for the Red Dragons, with his cross nearly finding the outstretched Aaron Ramsey at the far post, before the Leeds United winger weaved his way past a couple of Austrian defenders but was unable to find a teammate with his cross.
The industrious Williams was giving Wales plenty of attacking threat down the left, with the on-loan Fulham wing-back finding Ramsey with a ball into the area, but he saw his glancing header go wide.
Then, with 24 minutes played, came the key moment. Austria conceded a free-kick just outside the area when Baumgartner caught Harry Wilson. This was to prove fatal for the visitors, as up stepped Bale to place the ball into the top right corner of the net. Even by the captain’s standards, this was something very special, as the Cardiff City Stadium was sent into the raptures.
Attacking opportunities were proving hard to come by for Austria, with their next and only other half chance in a poor first-half coming when Marko Arnautović was sent into a foot race with Joe Rodon. Despite his lack of game time for Tottenham Hotspur, the defender showed outstanding pace and desire to get back and shepherd the Bologna forward off the ball and deny him a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The final chance of the half fell to Wales. After Bale’s powerful header upfield from an Austria corner forced the visitors back, James sprinted up the pitch to pressurise the defence, and it paid off as he won the ball back and fed Ramsey – but his shot from the right edge of the area was deflected behind for a corner.
Austria knew they had to come out firing after the break, and they did just that with their speed of play causing Wales some problems. They were able to craft out a couple of dangerous moments – the best coming when an unmarked Arnautović headed straight at Hennessy from inside the area – but they could not make the most of them, and shortly after they were made to pay a heavy price.
After Wales decided to go short from a corner, James whipped a cross into the area which initially took a touch off Ben Davies but, crucially, it would fall into the path of Bale, who took a touch before firing across goal and into the right corner past the despairing Lindner to double Wales’ advantage and put Page’s men in dreamland.
Wales were flowing with confidence at this point, and their talisman had a great chance to complete his hat-trick not long after when a ball over the top put Bale through on goal, but, after cutting inside onto his favoured left foot, he fired his shot comfortably over the bar.
From very nearly seeing the game all but wrapped up, the mood changed dramatically just after the hour mark when Sabitzer’s speculative effort from distance took a deflection off Davies and sent the ball past Wayne Hennessey, who was wrong-footed in the Wales goal, to halve the deficit and set up a tense finale.
James was heavily involved all evening, and, from yet another Wales counter-attack, he had the opportunity to make it 3-1, but as he raced through on goal, Nicolas Seiwald did well to get back and make a crucial last-ditch tackle.
It would have been easy for Wales to sit back on their lead in the closing stages, but to their credit they continued to drive forward in search of a third goal which would surely end the contest.
There were a couple of close calls, with the last big opportunity falling the way of the visitors as the ball ricocheted around the penalty area, but heroic Welsh defending saw the danger cleared.
Bale was replaced in stoppage time, leaving the ball to a standing ovation after putting in a performance of the highest quality to once again see his country over the line on the big occasion.
It was fitting that this was to be the final act of the night – as the Cardiff City Stadium was sent into delirium as Wales created yet more history to take a step closer to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Leave a Reply