Euro 2020: Ramsey and Roberts give Wales victory over Turkey
Wales captain Gareth Bale set up Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts to score for a 2-0 victory over Turkey in their Group A match at Baku’s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday to take a big step towards qualifying for the European Championship knockout stages.
Ramsey failed to convert two chances early in the first half but scored just before halftime when he made a run through the middle to chest down Bale’s perfect ball over the defence and slip it past the goalkeeper.
Wales could have doubled the lead at the hour mark when Bale was tripped by Zeki Celik and awarded a penalty, but the Welsh skipper skied his effort after a stuttering run up.
Wales scored right at the death in injury time when a corner was played short and Connor Roberts was on hand to divert a Bale pass past goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to seal the victory.
“I’m delighted with the win. We fought hard, we worked our socks off like we always do,” Bale said after the game, adding that his contributions compensated for the penalty miss.
The surprise semifinalists of Euro 2016 now have four points, after drawing with Switzerland in their opener. Their final game is against Italy next week. Turkey take on the Swiss.
Ramsey was twice picked out by Bale with superb defence-splitting passes but both times he failed to score, with Cakir denying him from a tight angle in the sixth minute and then thundering a shot over the bar in the 24th.
There was nothing lucky about the third time with Bale floating a superbly-timed cross in the 42nd minute for Ramsey who brought the ball down perfectly and slotted under Cakir.
‘FANTASTIC POSITION’
With Turkish and Azeri Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev in the stands, Turkey upped the pace after the break.
Captain Burat Yilmaz, who had missed a good chance in the first half, should have scored 10 minutes after the restart when he was left completely unmarked in front of the Welsh goal but blazed a volley from three metres out well over the crossbar.
Wales found space to counter attack and Ramsey’s low shot was blocked before Bale was brought down just inside the box to earn a spot kick on the hour.
But the 31-year-old’s effort flew high and wide to keep the Turks in the game, who then forced a good save from keeper Danny Ward when he punched a Merih Demiral header wide in the 87th.
With the Turks having run out of steam in stoppage time, Bale cut inside to feed Roberts for their second goal.
“We’re in a fantastic position now. If you’d offered us 4 points at the start, we’d have bitten your hand off,” Bale said, paying tribute to Welsh fans who were heavily outnumbered by Turks in the stadium.
MATCH FACTS
Since they first qualified for the European Championships in 1996, no side has suffered more defeats in the group stages of the competition than Turkey, with this evening’s loss their ninth at this stage (level with Russia).
Only world champions France (6) have celebrated more wins across EURO 2016 and 2020 than Wales, who have now won five of their eight matches in the competition, boasting the highest winning % of all sides to have played at any European Championships (63%).
Wales remain unbeaten in their six matches across all competitions in Baku (W4 D2), keeping clean sheets in each victory.
Tonight’s match between Turkey (18) and Wales (16) produced 34 attempts on goal, the most in a EURO 2020 game so far.
Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey created four chances between themselves against Turkey, the most by a pair so far in any game at EURO 2020, whilst the most in a game at EURO 2016 was six – also set by Bale and Ramsey (v Russia).
Wales skipper Gareth Bale is the first player to miss the goal frame entirely with a penalty at the EUROs since Raúl for Spain against France at the 2000 tournament (excluding shootouts).
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Aaron Ramsey’s strike was his 17th goal for Wales, moving one clear of Rob Earnshaw, Cliff Jones and Mark Hughes (all on 16), leaving just six other Welshman with more international goals to their name.
Following their goals this evening, Aaron Ramsey (17) and Gareth Bale (33) account for 50 of the 73 goals Wales’ current EURO 2020 squad have scored between them.