It’s amazing how one passage of play lasting no more than ten seconds or so out of the ninety minutes can transform the entire mood of a game and the mood of those watching it.
Make no mistake, a depleted team certainly played better than Wales had done in the reverse fixture against Bulgaria in Cardiff and in Ireland on Sunday, but the same lack of a killer instinct which has been a constant feature of this international autumn threatened to turn it into another frustrating outcome which would end with the group leadership ceded to Finland after their 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Helsinki.
Jonny Williams’ excellent goal in the eighty fifth minute as Wales left it late yet again meant that they now go into two home games against the Finns and the Irish a point ahead of the first named knowing that they are their only rivals to finish top of the group.
One of the main reasons why the feeling around the Welsh camp would have been completely different without Williams’ moment of inspiration was that they were up against a side that, frankly, were there for the taking from the very first minute.
Just over a quarter of a century ago, Bulgaria were the third best team on the planet if you went by the outcome of the 1994 World Cup, but now they are a side in turmoil with their run of matches where they have only celebrated a win in a friendly against the Czech Republic stretching beyond twenty games.
Although an off colour Welsh outfit were the better team in Cardiff, the Bulgars would have gone home feeling somewhat unlucky to have lost to a goal deep into added time after a disciplined defensive operation which smothered the Welsh attack effectively for about ninety five per cent of the match.
Since then though, they’ve lost conclusively at home to Hungary and limply in Finland and you only had to watch them for five minutes or so tonight to realise that they just didn’t fancy it. For the first three quarters of the game, there was a strong feeling that the match was there to be won quite easily by Wales if they could just show a bit more attacking bite, but it was not forthcoming and the irony was that the Bulgars must have just started thinking they could nick a win as they began to inflict some nervy moments on a Welsh defence which now not conceded a goal in six competitive matches when the decisive goal was scored.
With Keiffer Moore and Joe Morrell missing through suspension, Aaron Ramsey and David Brooks joining longer term injury victims Gareth Bale and Joe Allen on the treatment table and the underrated Tom Lockyer also unfit, the Welsh starting eleven contained eight players of age twenty two or under with a debut for Rhys Norrington Davies (on loan to Luton from Sheffield United) at left wing back and a first start for Neco Williams at right wing back.
The selection of wing backs, as opposed to full backs, gave the hint that, in a departure from the Ryan Giggs norm, he selected a back three of the fit again Chris Mepham, Joe Rodon and captain Ben Davies in a position I think we may seem him playing in more and more during the second half of his career.
Matt Smith retained his place in midfield and he was joined by the versatile Ethan Ampadu, with Harry Wilson, Dan James and Tyler Roberts forming a fluent and mobile front three which were unable to maintain their impressive start to the game as a trio.
Wales forced a series of corners in the opening minutes which suggested they could be a very profitable area for them as red shirted players won the initial header from all of them with Rodon lobbing on to the roof of the net from one of them.
The Sky commentary team were much impressed by Wales play throughout the opening forty five minutes, but I struggled to understand why really because, as their early flurry subsided there were what I’m afraid were the usual wrong options that players like James, Wilson and Roberts have been taking lately.
Williams’ very good early cross saw Roberts almost loop his header over home goalkeeper and captain Mihaylov and James got away a shot which the keeper turned away for a corner despite the fact that it looked to be going wide, but that was about on the attacking front for Wales. However, it was still an awful lot more than a poor home attack came up with, so half time was reached with a predictable blank scoresheet.
The most promising avenue for creating a Welsh goal was offered by the wing backs- Norrington- Davies was a willing runner down the left and would have had a clear run in on the home goal, but for a mistakenly raised linesman’s flag after being sent clear by James, but, despite some occasional careless pieces of ball control, it was Williams on the right who looked the best player on the field.
Wales made an aggressive start after the break, both in terms of attacking intent and physicality – Wilson picked up a harsh booking which means he’ll be suspended for the first match in the November double header and then James provoked a melee in front of the dug outs with an altogether worse foul which initially had me thinking he might see a red card, not the yellow one he was shown.
The frustrated Manchester United winger was withdrawn shortly afterwards in favour of Rabbi Matondo and the introduction of the Schalke player signaled an improvement in the Welsh attacking effort.
First though, there was a show of defiance by the home side as they upped their game for a while, seemingly as a reaction to the James tackle.
However, the BBC’s match stats show just how feeble the home team were in front of goal as none of their paltry total of five goal attempts were on target.
The Bulgars more aggressive approach led to a more watchable second half as they began to leave a few more gaps at the back in their quest for a goal and, consequently the Welsh near misses began to mount up. A long range free kick from Wilson forced a diving save from Mihaylov, Matondo cut back on to his right foot to shoot not too far wide from the edge of the penalty area and then the former City player’s technique let him down when he approached a lovely Roberts cross all wrong and scooped over the bar from less than ten yards out – Norrington -Davies was another to fire wastefully high after a pull back from Roberts, now playing out wide on the right.
Wilson and Smith made way for Jonny Williams and Dylan Levitt as Wales rather lost their way a little in the match’s final quarter, while the home side finally showed some craft to create a crossing chance which flew an inch or two over striker Yomov’s head.
An injury to the previously untroubled Wayne Hennessy could have made life problematical for the visitors, but sub Adam Davies’ first taste of competitive international was both a gentle one and a winning one.
Giggs’ unusual deployment of Williams in a central striking role paid off thanks to a beautifully
weighted pass by Mepham – when a pass is played in a manner which enables the receiver not to break stride as they move on to it, it looks such a simple thing to do, but so many pros at the higher levels of the game struggle to achieve it. This time though Mepham got it just right and Williams did not waste the pass as he crossed well to his namesake. Jonny still had a lot to do though as he flicked a first time shot into the net at the near post from some fifteen yards out.
The six minutes of added time produced the sort of long, mazy run from Matondo that I used to see from time to time in Academy matches at Treforest or Leckwith, but it came to nothing because of a wrong option taken and then it was all over.
Those of us who have a whinge at the lack of entertainment in Wales performances so far in this qualifying group would do well to remember all of the previous campaigns ruined by an inability to win on the road. This is no longer the case and to reach the stage where they have control of their group with all of their away matches completed is no mean feat for a squad which is some way from being at full strength.
Can I also give a mention to my new book Real Madrid and all that which has been bought out to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary on 10 March next year of Cardiff City’s win over the team which can be judged as the best in Europe based on their record in continent wide club tournaments since they were introduced in the 1950s. The book is more than that though, it’s a review of the whole of the momentous 1970/71 season which saw us fighting for promotion to the old First division, reaching two Cup Finals and scoring the best goal I’ve seen us scoring in nearly sixty years of supporting the club – it also contained the most controversial transfer of my Cardiff City supporting life.
Real Madrid and all that is available in e book and paperback formats and can only be purchased from Amazon.
Once again, can I finish by making a request for support from readers by them becoming my Patrons through Patreon. Full details of this scheme and the reasons why I decided to introduce it can be found here, but I should say that the feedback I have got in the past couple of years has indicated a reluctance from some to use Patreon as they prefer to opt for a direct payment to me. If you are interested in becoming a patron and would prefer to make a direct contribution, please contact me at paul.evans8153@hotmail.com or in the Feedback section of the blog and I will send you my bank/PayPal details.
