Bale scores twice as Wales win in Israel
Two second half goals from Gareth Bale helped Wales beat ten-man Israel 3-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier in Haifa on Saturday night.
Euro 2016 Group B Qualifier:
Israel 0 Wales 3
Saturday, 28 March, 2015
Israel went into the game as group leaders, having won their opening three games of the campaign, but they were well beaten on the night as they fell to their first home competitive defeat since September 2012.
A cagey first half saw the Welsh enjoy the better of the chances, but Israel looked as if they’d go into half-time on level terms, only for Aaron Ramsey’s looping header in first half stoppage time sending the visitors into the break ahead.
It got worse for the Israelis minutes after the restart when Eytan Tibi brought down Bale on the edge of the box. The Real Madrid star stepped up and curled a delightful effort into the back of the net.
Tibi’s night took a further turn for the worse minutes later when he picked up his second yellow card for another tackle on Bale, which led to an early dismissal.
And Israel’s miserable night was complete in the 76th minute when fancy footwork from Ramsey set up Bale who fired in past Ofir Marciano.
Speaking after the match, manager Eli Guttman said: “This is heartbreaking, but this can happen in soccer. We will regroup and fight until the very end of the campaign. We have another match coming up on Tuesday and it is some match.”
Admitting they deserved to lose the game, he said: “They fought and gave their all, I will talk to the players and tell them I’m behind them. I hoped we would look better as a team, but we couldn’t find a solution for Wales tonight. They were the better team and deserved to win.”
Israel are next in action on Tuesday evening when they host Belgium in Jerusalem.
Group Standings:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Points | |
| Wales | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| Israel | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Belgium | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 7 |
| Cyprus | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 6 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 5 |
| Andorra | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 20 | -18 | 0 |
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