James strikes late to earn precious Wales win
DANIEL JAMES’S late header gave Wales a 1-0 World Cup qualifying victory over the Czech Republic in a bad-tempered Cardiff affair.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men as Connor Roberts and Patrick Schick saw red in separate second-half incidents.
Schick was dismissed after tangling with Roberts three minutes after the restart, an incident which saw the Swansea wingback booked. Roberts collected his second caution 13 minutes from time after catching Tomas Soucek in the face during an aerial challenge, which the West Ham midfielder ensured caught the attention of Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan.
Wales quickly recovered from that setback as Gareth Bale crossed from the left after 81 minutes, and James’s downward header beat the despairing dive of Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik for his fourth international goal.
The Dragons were seeking their first points in World Cup qualification after losing their Group E opener in Belgium last week.
The Czech Republic – 24 places lower than Wales on the FIFA world rankings at 42 – already had four points on the board after winning 6-2 in Estonia and drawing 1-1 at home to Belgium on Saturday.
James McClean’s first international goal for three and a half years handed the Republic of Ireland a friendly draw with Qatar as Stephen Kenny’s wait for a first win extended to 11 games.
McClean fired Ireland, who were out to restore pride against the World Cup hosts at the Nagyerdei Stadium in Debrecen after Saturday’s desperate qualifying defeat by Luxembourg, into a fourth-minute lead which they preserved until Mohamed Muntari levelled two minutes after the restart.
■ Carlisle United turned on the style in a fine home win over Crawley Town to keep their League Two play-off hopes alive.
Chris Beech’s side got back to winning ways thanks to goals from Joe Riley and Omari Patrick at Brunton Park.
■ Phoenix 2021 Limited has completed its takeover of Wigan, the club announced on Tuesday evening. The news comes two weeks after the League One strugglers revealed a deal had been agreed with the UK-based company owned by Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi.