Wales’ battle in Baku ends in a stalemate against Switzerland as VAR chalks off late Swiss winner

Wales’ opening Euro 2020 Group A fixture ended in a stalemate against Switzerland in Baku. Plenty of chances were created, but it was Breel Embolo and Kieffer Moore who both converted from powerful headers.

It was the Welsh outfit who had the first opening as a long kick from Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer was intercepted by Joe Allen. After some tidy control and a quick drive forward from the 31-year-old, he played the ball into the wide-left channel to Dan James, who’s dangerous cross was fizzed into the box but was claimed by Sommer’s gloves.

Moments later, a pinpoint cross from Ricardo Rodriguez found the head of beastly Wolfsburg defender Kevin Mbabu who headed wide. Referee Clement Turpin deemed that the shot had deflected off a Wales man which resulted in a corner, which the Swiss failed to convert from.

With the tie just under a quarter of an hour old, Sommer was called into action again as he was forced to pull off a magnificent save from a powerful Kieffer Moore header, which the 32-year-old tipped over the bar at full stretch.

Danny Ward made a superb stop minutes later as he refused to be caught out by a cheeky Fabian Schar flick from an in-swinging Shaqiri corner. The Welshman was quick to react as he denied the Newcastle defender with his right foot.

Just past the half way point of the first half, Seferovic tried to whip a shot into the far post from the edge of the Wales box. Unfortunately, the Benfica talisman couldn’t get a sufficient amount of curl on the ball which meant it went out for a Welsh goal kick.

Just past the half hour mark, Schar was the first man in Turpin’s book as he mistimed a stood tackle on Dan James, as the Manchester United man raced like lightning down the left flank to try and catch out the Swiss on a counter attack.

Five minutes remained of the first half as Seferovic blazed a powerful shot over Ward’s goal from 20-yards. The Swiss remained on top as they continued their search for the opener.

As added time was announced, Breel Embolo jostled with Chris Mepham in the Wales penalty area. The Welshman tugged and yanked on the Swiss-man’s shirt, but Embolo managed to create an opening for Seferovic who got the shot all wrong and wasted his second chance in a matter of minutes.

At the start of the second half, Embolo broke free of the Wales defence as he unleashed a shot which was tipped over the bar by Danny Ward’s outstretched fingertips.

From the subsequent corner, Embolo met Shaqiri’s in-swinging cross as he leapt above Connor Roberts and nodded home the opener with 48 minutes on the clock.

Wales looked to make an instant reply, however Sommer was alert to eliminate any danger as he collected another cross – this time from Gareth Bale.

A small matter of seconds later, Mbabu was the latest Swiss player to be presented with a chance. The right back’s weak, off-target effort from around ten yards rolled out for a Wales goal kick.

Ben Davies unleashed a rocket shot just after the hour mark from 12 yards, a slight deflection gave Wales a chance to equalise from a corner which was completely misplaced and overhit by James.

Embolo attempted to double the Swiss’ lead as he tried to dink a curled attempt across-goal. Unfortunately for the Monchengladbach man, he was unable to convert.

Speaking of the German outfit, Xherdan Shaqiri was replaced by Denis Zakaria at the half way point of the second half, with Vladimir Petkovic wanting to see the game out with his side in the lead as Welsh pressure started to remount.

With 74 minutes on the clock, Wales had a corner. Taker Dan James played the ball short to Joe Allen, who found Morrell. The Luton Town man dispatched a cross from deep which was destined for Kieffer Moore’s head as the Wales talisman clinched the equaliser from 10 yards.

The Swiss side snatched the lead back just ten minutes later through Mario Gavranovic as he converted from Embolo’s flick on. A late winner, or so the Swiss thought…

VAR. Offside. Still 1-1.

The Welsh defence played an impeccably executed offside trap which caught out Gavranovic, as the jubilation went from the Swiss end of the Baku Olympic Stadium to the Welsh fans housed in the opposite end.

Switzerland continued piling pressure on the Welsh defence. Rodriguez swung in a corner just before 90′ which was met by the head of Embolo before Ward pulled off another fantastic save to keep the tie level.

Gavranovic called Ward into action once more as the Welsh keeper was forced to pull off another incredible fingertip save, had he been beaten it wouldn’t have stood as the Dynamo Zagreb forward was flagged offside again.

The full-time whistle blew settling the stalemate, a well earned point for each side. Both teams were good in offence and defence. A superb display from Danny Ward as his heroics kept Wales in the game.

What’s Next?

Both sides return to action on Wednesday evening – Wales face Turkey in Baku as Switzerland travel to Rome to take on Italy.

Wales and Switzerland sit second and third in Group A, ahead of Turkey who were on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat to the Italians in the tournament opener on Friday.

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