Wales are through to the last 16 of Euro 2016 as Group B winners after they beat Russia in Toulouse and Slovakia held England to a goalless draw in St Etienne.
Aaron Ramsey, man of the match on the night, opened the scoring with a classy dink early on before Neil Taylor popped up to get Wales’ second.
Gareth Bale’s direct dribbling was relentless all night and he got his reward with Wales’ third and his third of the tournament so far.
It remains to be seen who Wales will face in the last 16, but it could be another home nations derby, with Northern Ireland currently one of the best third-placed sides.
Chris Coleman’s side have started slowly in each of their previous Group B games but Bale’s bright run and shot inside two minutes was a sign of a new, reinvigorated Wales.
In the 11th minute the Dragons took the lead as Joe Allen delivered a delightful defence-splitting pass to send Ramsey clear, with the Arsenal man dinking over goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev to give the Welsh an early lead.
And eight minutes later Taylor doubled the lead as Roman Shirokov’s tackle on Bale caused the ball to fall to the wing-back who hit his first shot straight at Akinfeev before finishing at the second bit of the cherry.
It was Taylor’s first goal since 2010, when he scored for Wrexham against Grays Athletic in front of around 200 people.
Wales then sat back and looked to hit Russia on the break with Bale running devastatingly at the heart of their defence and drawing a number of good saves from Akinfeev.
Straight after the break it was more of the same with Wales’ star men combining as Ramsey threaded the ball through to Bale but the Real Madrid man’s effort wide from the Russian stopper’s trailing leg.
In the 67th minute Bale finally got his goal as the sublime Ramsey played him in on the left and he stabbed the ball past the helpless Akinfeev to become the top scorer at Euro 2016.
The Welsh then took their foot off the gas and controlled the game in what was a very professional and composed performance – and beating England to first place will be the icing on the cake for Coleman and Wales
Read more at http://talksport.com/football/euro-2016-russia-0-3-wales-bale-and-ramsey-score-dragons-roar-last-16-group-b-winners#6U0seyCJevQ2elXo.99
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