Gareth Bale was Wales’ saviour once again with his two goals helping beat Andorra 2-1.

It was the side ranked 199th in the world who took a shock with a IIdefons Lima scoring his penalty after 6 minutes, Wales continued to press and it was Bale’s header which got them level just after 20 minutes. Andorra were proving to be tough to break down for the majority of the match and Welsh nerves were starting to shake, however it was Bale who secured the victory with 10 minutes left with a magnificent costless kick which put Wales joint top in Group B.

Wales were proving a handful from the off, Chris Gunter did brilliantly latch onto an equally brilliant ball but his shot was gathered well from Ferran Pol.

 It was the home side however, who hadn’t scored in a competitive game in four years who took a shock lead, Ivan Lorenzo looked to get onto the end of a cross and was seemingly pulled back by Neil Taylor. The initial appeals from Andorra were waved away by referee Slavko Vincic and play was resumed until the assistant pulled it back and the penalty was given, it was Lima who stepped up to the spot and dispatched it well into the bottom corner sending Wayne Hennessey the wrong way.

This seemed to spark Wales into life coming close from James Chester and Bale but ultimately couldn’t find the equaliser, but it wasn’t long before Wales equalised and it was their star man again who came to their rescue. Ben Davies hit a decent ball which found Bale who was running into area and he rose perfectly to hit his header beyond the reach of Pol and into the net and Chris Coleman’s side could breathe a sigh of relief.

The Welsh continued to press throughout the remainder of first period but couldn’t quite create anything significant, Andorra did well to defend the barrage of Welsh attacks reducing them to half chances which they dealt but it only seemed a matter of time before the away side took the lead.

Wale’s first real chance of the second period came just before the hour mark it was a costless-kick which was in decent position and had Bale written all over it, the Real Madrid star hit it with a mighty dip but it was unfortunately straight at Pol who got down low to punch it clear.

Bale was the only real threat for Wales when they went forward with the midfielder putting a good ball into the area and a speculative long-range just going wide of the right-hand post. Andorra were holding out and even continued to push forward but it was a poorly hit speculative effort bouncing wide.

With only 20 minutes left to play things were starting to get nervy for Coleman’s side and you could sense urgency in their play, they came close again on the 73rd minute when Bale’s header was looping towards goal after Pol had come to punch clear with substitute Joe Ledley following it up but again Andorra got it away.

Wales needed their talisman to produce now more than ever and he did just that with 10 minutes left, Bale wasn’t fazed by retaking the costless kick after the first attempt was pulled back and the brilliant dip and swerve on the second attempt took it just inside the post and leaving the keeper with no chance and sending the hundreds of Welsh fans into a frenzy.

Wales looked to kill the game off against an Andorra who had proved valiant for the majority of the tie but were now looking tired and defeated, the last chance fell to Aaron Ramsey who forced some room in the area but it was David Maneiro who forced a save from his keeper with his attempted interception.

It was vital three points for Wales who kicked off their Euro 2016 campaign in the right way even, if it was only just by the skin of their teeth. Gareth Bale again showed why he was the most expensive footballer in the world, but Coleman could face some major issues if his star man was to be injured throughout this qualifying campaign.