Wales' Jordan James scores Wales to important World Cup victory over Liechtenstein.
Wales claimed a tight 1-0 victory over underdogs Liechtenstein to sustain their hopes of World Cup finals qualifying.
The young midfielder scored his first international strike for Wales from inside the box after the home side's mix of full-time players, office workers and part-timers had defended for over an hour. The scorer celebrated in delight with his clear emotion echoed by the three thousand Wales followers occupying three sides of the venue in the capital.
Moments later, yet, Jordan James was shown a yellow card and a further late caution for Ethan Ampadu resulted in the two players are suspended for Tuesday’s crunch tie with North Macedonia through disciplinary issues.
The home venue fixture is a encounter Wales have to secure victory in to overtake North Macedonia and obtain a more favourable draw in the qualifying playoffs in March.
The Wales manager had an unfamiliar perspective from the stands, the head coach completing a sideline suspension after picking up a second yellow card in the tournament earlier.
The manager's assistant his assistant assumed duties in the dugout and several key players – James, Ampadu, Rodon, Neco Williams – were at risk of suspension from sitting out the final qualifier. Both James and Ampadu came unstuck in moments that could really hurt their team.
The home side, placed near the bottom in international football, had been goalless in their six qualifying defeats and let in 23 goals at an average of around four per game.
The visitors unsurprisingly dominated possession as Liechtenstein employed a deep defensive line and defended in numbers.
Liechtenstein's net remained unthreatened until the forward's pressing caused a mistake and James saw his attempt from the edge of the box pushed aside by the goalkeeper.
That pairing created another chance, James finding Broadhead now with a precise ball over the top.
Broadhead’s excellent control took him past the keeper but the Wrexham striker could not convert from a difficult angle.
Wales believed they'd broken the deadlock after the first half when Jordan James headed a lofted Thomas set-piece back into a packed six-yard box.
The Liechtenstein keeper was harassed by Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch landed with Nathan Broadhead who finished powerfully. But Welsh celebrations were curtailed when the match official was instructed to the pitchside monitor and decided that a player of the Welsh central defenders was in an illegal position from Jordan's initial touch.
Wales increased the pressure after the half-time and Sorba Thomas delivered a ball to the opposite side which James struck the crossbar.
Williams then directed his header off target from inside the penalty box as it began to look like one of those nights for the Welsh side.
Yet, with the game having reached its final half-hour, Williams delivered a clever pass for Daniel James to break behind the Liechtenstein defenders.
Daniel James cut out Büchel with a excellent pass across the face of goal, and his namesake Jordan James had the straightforward task of relieving Wales' tension.