Wales keep dream alive

Moore and Wilson pounce to keep Giggs’ men in mix

GARETH BALE claims never to have taken a triple-bogey while playing golf — and his return helped Wales score a solid par in Azerbaijan to keep alive their hopes of reaching the finals.

First-half goals from Kieffer Moore and Harry Wilson earned Ryan Giggs’s side a comfortable win here as they seek to qualify automatically for Euro 2020.

His decision to leave Aaron Ramsey out of his starting line-up was vindicated as Joe Morrell, the Bristol City midfielder on loan at Lincoln, was superb on his first competitive start.

When Ramsey replaced Bale after an hour, Wales were in full control and already looking to Tuesday’s home clash with Hungary.

With qualification rivals Slovakia at home to Azerbaijan on the same night, Wales will surely need to win to have any chance of reaching the finals without needing to go through the play-offs in the spring.

Bale had not played since picking up a calf injury during his country’s 1-1 draw with Croatia on October 13 and his appearance here raised eyebrows at his club Real Madrid.

His admission before the match that representing his country excites him more than playing for the Spanish giants is hardly likely to have endeared him to his critics — some of whom believe he places turning out for Wales and spending time on the golf course above his career at the Bernabeu.

None of this will worry Bale, though. Against the Hungarians in Cardiff, we can surely expect to see both he and Ramsey from the start, with Wales facing a far sterner test than the world’s 111th-ranked side were able to give them here. In eight competitive matches against Azerbaijan, Wales have never tasted defeat.

The visitors deservedly took the lead in the 10th minute.

Morrell’s rising drive from 35 yards was pushed around the post and from Wilson’s corner Moore rose to head in from underneath the crossbar.

Bale looked a little sluggish, not surprisingly given his lack of match practice at Real, but he still produced moments of class.

In the first half, though, Wales’ best players were Moore and Morrell — a strong endorsement of Giggs’s faith.

Moore won everything in the air against Azerbaijan centre-back Bahlul Mustafazade, while Morrell barely misplaced a pass alongside Ethan Ampadu in midfield.

With the Welsh in charge, Moore wasted two chances to double their lead. In the 28th minute, Bale eluded two markers with delightful skill on the right and crossed for Moore — but he headed straight at goalkeeper Emil Balayev.

Then, three minutes later, Daniel James sent Moore clean through, only for the forward to hesitate, allowing Balayev to race from goal and block his shot.

No matter. Shortly afterwards, James delivered a curling shot that beat Balayev before skimming the post and crossbar.

The loose ball fell perfectly for Wilson, who was rewarded with a simple header into the empty net. Wales celebrated, the first part of the job virtually complete.

They had luck on their side, too, when Dmitry Nazarov’s shot from the edge of the box appeared to strike Tom Lockyer’s arm.

Nazarov was booked for his wild protests when referee Deniz Aytekin turned down his appeal.

The call meant Wales had no nasty surprises before half-time and they thought they had a third goal soon after the break, but Lockyer’s header from a corner by James was ruled out, seemingly for a foul on Balayev.

The goalkeeper kept his side in the contest once again in the 57th minute when he pushed Wilson’s angled drive behind for a corner.

On the hour, Giggs stuck to the pre-match plan, sending on Ramsey for Bale.

The Juventus midfielder slotted into the No 10 role and soon created a chance for Moore, whose deflected shot trickled wide.

The striker then missed further chances to make the scoreline more comfortable but his wastefulness did not matter and Wales now look to Tuesday with confidence.

Even a confrontation involving 20 players, following a tussle between Wilson and Shahriyar Rahimov, could not knock them off course.

Afterwards, Giggs insisted his side have found momentum heading into that vital clash with Hungary.

‘The result was the priority,’ he said. ‘Some of the quality of our play was outstanding. We have improved since the Azerbaijan game at home (a 2-1 victory in September).

‘We’ve started to gain some momentum, which is not easy in international football.

‘Getting Gareth off pretty early and giving Aaron some minutes was important, When he came on, he showed his quality.

‘Hopefully I’ll have the option to start both on Tuesday.’