BALE’S BAD HAIR DAY
Coleman: We cannot revel in our Euro glory
Wales let a lead slip for the second time in four days, but wheareas the draw in austria felt like a point gained, Georgia’s comeback in Cardiff last night left Chris Coleman deflated.
Before the game, Coleman compared his career to riding a bike uphill, but after a bright start last night, the wheels came off to change the complexion of Wales’s campaign to reach the 2018 World Cup.
The mild boos at the end, a rarity in recent times, could not have been foreseen when Gareth Bale opened the scoring with a fine header after 10 minutes. That moved him to 25 in 64 internationals and within three of Ian Rush’s record, and it looked like a safe passage to victory lay ahead.
But Wales eased off to grant Georgia a way back, seized by Tornike Okriashvili 12 minutes after the break. Georgia are ranked 137th in the world — 127 places behind Wales — but last night told a different story.
June’s friendly victory in spain hinted at Georgia’s potential and Vladimir Weiss’s men played some fine technical football at the Cardiff City stadium. In the end, it was almost a surprise that they did not improve a dire sequence of one away win in 25 competitive games.
The draw increases the importance of Wales’s encounter with serbia next month and Coleman has told his side they cannot think their impressive run to the euro 2016 semi-finals means they are guaranteed future success.
‘We came back from tournament tails high,’ the Wales manager said. ‘But now this is a test, a slap on the back of the head to remind us it’s not all plain sailing.
‘We looked indecisive in the second half, and in the last 15 minutes we tried to push and the game became open. It was also down to fatigue. The players are shattered.’
The loss of Joe allen to compound aaron Ramsey’s absence did not help, with Wales unable to fashion genuine chances for a winner. They had begun with pace, stringing moves together nicely.
In the sixth minute they carved open a great chance, with andy King bursting into space down the right and firing a low cross that Bale dived to connect with, only narrowly missing. Four minutes later, Wales’s pressure was rewarded. They won a corner, Joe ledley delivered and Bale rose to beat his marker and head beyond Giorgi loria. Bale tested loria again with a low free-kick soon after, but Georgia have their own set-piece specialist in Jano ananidze. His whipped strike from 20 yards struck the top of the Welsh crossbar.
James Chester and ledley combined delightfully to free King, who drew a good low save. Then Bale hurled a long throw on to the head of sam Vokes, who could only nod wide. after the interval it was Georgia who took the initiative. In the 55th minute Okriashvili struck a shot just past Wayne Hennessey’s post to send a warning that two minutes later Wales failed to heed.
Valeri Kazaishvili was afforded too much space on the left, Okriashvili too much freedom from the right.
The former crossed for the latter, who was able to head down, unmarked, past Hennessey.
Coleman sought a change, switching from five defenders to four, but instead of improving, Wales became ragged at the back. In the 72nd
minute Okriashvili led a counter-attack, slipping a neat ball to Levan Mchedlidze, who could only drag his shot wide.
Seven minutes later Valerian Gvilia struck a shot narrowly past the post, then Kazaishvili let fly from the edge of the box and smacked the crossbar.
By now, the atmosphere inside the stadium was fraught. The fans were anxious and the players tetchy.
The final whistle brought a smattering of boos from Welsh fans, but applause swiftly took over. The players responded in kind, but trudged off knowing the dropped points could prove costly.
WALES (3-4-2-1): Hennessey 6; Chester 6, Williams 6, Davies 6.5; Gunter 6, Edwards 6, Ledley 6.5 (Huws 73min, 5), Taylor 6 (Cotterill 70, 5); King 6 (Robson-Kanu 61, 6), Bale 7; Vokes 6. Booked: None. GEORGIA (4-2-3-1): Loria 6.5; Kakabadze 6.5, Kashia 7, Kverkvelia 6.5, Navalovski 6.5; Daushvili, Gvilia 6.5; Ananidze 6.5 (Kacharava 90), Kazaishvili 7, Okriashvili 7.5 (Jigauri 90); Mchedlidze 7 (Dvalishvili 75, 6). Booked: Kashia, Daushvili, Gvilia, Okriashvili. Man of the match: Tornike Okriashvili. Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (Italy) 7.