Wales 3-0 Liechtenstein: Craig Bellamy's side remain unbeaten after comfortable win

Wales Online

a day ago

Wales kept up their unbeaten start to their World Cup qualifying campaign with a straightforward 3-0 win over Liechtenstein in Cardiff.
Ahead of Monday's clash with top seeds Belgium, Wales ultimately made light work of their Goup J opponents with a professional performance at the Cardiff City Stadium. Quickfire second-half goals from Harry Wilson and Kieffer Moore sealed the win after Joe Rodon had opened the scoring before the break.
Craig Bellamy had admitted ahead of the match that he'd been having sleepless nights ahead of facing a tiny principality that had not won a competitive game in five years.
On the night when Belgium started their own World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw against North Macedonia in Skopje, simply maintaining his unbeaten start to life as Wales manager with three points against the minnows would be enough for Bellamy.
"Win the game," he said in the week. "That is it."
12 months to the day from a goalless draw against Gibraltar towards the end of Rob Page's reign, few Welsh fans would blame him for that attitude.
Unsurprisingly, the man who had lost sleep over the world's 205th side lived every kick in the early exchanges.
From the off, Wales dominated possession as you would expect.
Wanting to inject pace into the game from the first whistle, the Wales manager had his head in his hands after one quick free-kick was pedantically pulled back.
Wilson had an early effort sail off-target, before Neco Williams could only find the arms of goalkeeper Benjamin Buchel with a shot from outside the box.
Just three of Liechtenstein's squad in Cardiff are professional, with Swiss-based goalkeeper Buchel one of them.
That shone through on the fair occasions in the opening exchanges when Wales tested him, with the goalkeeper denying Moore and Brennan Johnson with smart stops.
However, clear-cut chances in the early part of the first-half were few and far between. While Sorba Thomas continually had the beating of Livio Meier on the left, finding a killer ball proved more difficult.
Wales' advantage on that side of the pitch was dealt a blow when Williams was stretchered off after 20 minutes after twisting his ankle after trying to pick out a team-mate in the box.
Far from what it meant on the night, the connotations of what it meant ahead of Monday's clash with Belgium were clear to see as the 24-year-old shook his head while being wheeled off.
Corners proved to be a source of strong chances. Ben Davies and Moore went close with headers, while Ethan Ampadu had a speculative overhead kick that required a desperate scramble from Buchel after it took a deflection.
Connor Roberts did manage to get the ball in the net as the first-half wore on, only for the goal to be chalked off for offside.
In the end though, the breakthrough would come six minutes before the break. Another pinpoint corner found the head of Rodon, with the centre-back making no mistake from close range.
As the first-half drew to a close, Thomas continued to be Wales' biggest threat - with Wales peppering the box in search of a second before the break.
However, a wild effort from Ampadu would be as close as they got.
In an effort to deal with Thomas' marauding runs, Liechtenstein made a change, bringing on Kenny Kindle for Meier.
It didn't work. Within three minutes of the restart, Kindle was in the referee's book for hacking down Thomas after he's gone past him with ease.
Despite the problems that Thomas was causing the fresh Kindle on the left, it was the other wing that produced Wales' two best chances in the opening minutes of the second-half.
First, a neat one-two with Roberts allowed Johnson to get in behind, but Moore didn't gamble on his teasing ball across the box when a goal looked certain.
Minutes later, Johnson again found Moore from out wide, but the striker's header at the back-post was off-target.
Perhaps fittingly, the next goal would come from the left - even if it came moments after Thomas had been replaced.
After substitute Lewis Koumas retrieved possession, Jay Dasilva whipped in a cross from the left for Wilson to head past Buchel.
Minutes later, Wales had their third. Another cross from the left found David Brooks at the back-post.
His effort was saved, but the rebound fell to Moore who made no mistake from close range.
With the away side tiring, Wales nearly had a fourth - but Buchel was equal to Brooks' effort.
Brooks would go closest again with a couple of half-chances, but it mattered little in the end as Wales did exactly what Bellamy had asked. Win.
Scroll down for see how the action unfolded