A Ben Woodburn-inspired Hal Robson-Kanu goal, plus a late second from Aaron Ramsey, helped Wales to win in Moldova to overtake the Republic of Ireland into second place in Group D.
After a frustrating 80 minutes of stalemate in Chișinău, the 17-year-old Woodburn provided inspiration from the bench again with his work on the left setting up the West Bromwich Albion striker to get the all-important breakthrough.
With the hosts threatening an equaliser, Ramsey made it safe in stoppage time, albeit with a big deflection. With Ireland losing to ten-man Serbia, Wales leapfrog them and go a point clear in the push for a play-off place.
Wales unable to muster more than a few chances of note
Woodburn breathed new life into Wales’s attempts to reach the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1958 with his stunning strike just minutes into making his Wales debut on Saturday. It was not enough to earn the Liverpool youngster a first start though, with Wales bringing in Joe Allen, Andy King and Robson-Kanu from that win against Austria in an unfamiliar 4-3-3 shape. Moldova made four changes from their defeat against Serbia in their last game.
Robson-Kanu had the first chance, heading wide a Ramsey corner. The hosts could only attempt to test Wayne Hennessey with long-range efforts, which Alexandru Dedov and Artur Ioniţa pull well over.
Wales were largely in control, without truly dominating, and just under 20 minutes in they had a golden opportunity to take the lead. On the counter, Gareth Bale’s low drive was spilled by Ilie Cebanu, who recovered well to parry out Ramsey’s shot on the follow-up. Robson-Kanu had a third attempt, but that was finally put out by the Moldovan skipper Alexandru Epureanu.
That was as close as they got in the first half, with Bale failing to hit the target with a punt from outside the box, whilst a Ben Davies half-volley went wide and Ramsey, in stoppage time, went over. As the chances dried up, Moldova proved to be lively but Wales dealt with the threat posed well.
Woodburn provides the spark for late Wales show
Wales started the second half brightly, with their two most important players almost stepping up to put them ahead. Bale and Ramsey combined, with the former’s shot spilled by Cebanu, before he could track back to stop it trickling in – although it was probably drifting wide. Robson-Kanu also had a more than decent chance, shooting just wide after a nice touch in the build-up.
News was coming through that the Irish were losing to Serbia, encouraging Chris Coleman to rally his troops. Soon after he brought on Woodburn, but after an Ashley Williams header was saved, his mistake, missing the ball at the back, allowed Moldova to two chances to take a shock lead. Ioniţa tried to capitalise and set up Radu Gînsari but King put in a vital interception. Ioniţa then headed over from the resulting corner.
That spurred Wales back to life. An Allen cross allowed Sam Vokes to head just over, with Bale unable to redirect the effort as it went over him. A cross from Ramsey was then dropped by the mightily-uncertain Cebanu, with Artiom Rozgoniuc clearing on the line before Bale could pounce.
Wales were pushing, and either they were eventually going to crack Moldova’s resistance or this would be the most frustrating of draws. Fortunately for them, it was the former. Woodburn was the hero again, albeit this time providing the assist. The goal was all about his charge down the left wing, and with his cross he found Robson-Kanu to head it home.
Wales seemed content with what they had, but there was a scare in the second minute of four added minutes, with Hennessey making his first truly meaningful save off an Andrei Cojocari strike. Just to put any doubts to bed, Ramsey then scored the second, his shot being took past Cebanu by a deflection off Epureanu. Dedov still had time to hit the post for the hosts, but by then Wales didn’t care. Ireland had indeed lost, and Wales shoot into second in the group with two games remaining.