by Tolu Odeneye
Group B
Wales (2) vs Slovakia (1)
Three minutes into Wales’ first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, Marek Hamsik slalomed his way through the Welsh defence and his certain goal was denied by Ben Davies’ brilliant goal line clearance. Gareth Bale’s dipping free kick in the 10th minute gave Wales a half-time lead. After a strong run down the right wing by
Mak, he cut it inside for Ondrej Duda who punished the passive Welsh defending to equalise for Slovakia in the 61st minute. After the goal Slovakia’s Jiraj Kucka forced Danny Ward to make a save from long range. Wales went close as Ramsey’s header from Robson Kanu’s cross went over the bar and in the 81st minute, the roles
reversed. This time Ramsey received the ball from Ledley in-between the lines and managed to get it to Robson Kanu who scored the winner for Wales.
Supporting Points
• The Welsh used diagonal passes to the wingbacks to beat the high midfield press of the Slovaks.
• Joe Ledley’s remarkable recovery from a fractured fibula is good news for Wales- he was involved in the winner
• Bale had 100% shot Accuracy from his 5 Shots
• Joe Allen who was named man of the match completed the most passes (43) with 88% Pass Accuracy, 2 Key Passes and 2 Chances Created.
• Ondrej Duda scored just 52 seconds after coming off the bench.
• The Welsh fans created an euphoric atmosphere inside the Stade de Bordeaux stadium
• Martin Skrtel still has a bright future in UFC or WWE after that terrible challenge on Johnny Williams in the
first half.
• Finally kudos to the inspirational changes made by Chris Coleman, Joe Ledley and Robson-Kanu ere involved in the winner.
England (1) vs Russia (1)
England started very brightly, with Lallana’s effort going off target after Kyle Walker had set him up in the 7th minute and that was the story of their game as their profligacy came back to haunt them. In the second half the Russians played a higher defensive line and the space in behind was clearly inviting Jamie Vardy to have a party on it. The break through came finally in the 73rd minute from Eric Dier’s direct free kick. Wilshere and Milner came on to steady the ship but in the 92nd minute Russia recorded their first attempt on target since the 17th minute when
Berezutski out jumped Danny Rose to head in the equalizing goal.
Supporting Points
• The English team going forward looked very cohesive with
automatic player movements• Lallana likes to drift inside, that created space for
Kyle Walker, and for Rooney’s favourite pass-the diagonal to the right full back (ask Antonio Valencia)
• Dier, Alli and Kane in central areas of the pitch like it is at Tottenham
• Rooney looked good against a Russian team that did not really put him under pressure. He created 2 chances, second in number of attempted passes and putting 2 of his 3 shots on target