A last-gasp goal by Vaclav Pilar saw Czech Republic hand the Netherlands a 2-1 defeat in a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Prague while Gareth Bale scored twice to hand Wales a win in their opening match in qualifying.
Borek Dockal had put the Czechs ahead with his stunner midway through the first half, latching on to David Lafata’s lay off and striking a left foot effort from just outside the area which went in off the Dutch post.
The Dutch came close to levelling the Group A qualifying encounter just before half-time through Memphis Depay but his long range strike was kept out by Petr Cech.
The equaliser eventually came for the Dutch 10 minutes into the second half when defender Stefan de Vrij headed in a cross by new Manchester United player Daley Blind.
And it looked like the Lazio defender’s goal would earn Guus Hiddink’s side a point, only for Pilar to take advantage of Daryl Janmaat’s poor header back and slot home the winner in the 91st minute.
The win put Czech Republic in second place in Group A behind Iceland that claimed an impressive 3-0 win at home to Turkey, with Latvia and Kazakhstan sharing third spot after both played out a goalless draw in another Group A match.
Meanwhile in Group B, Wales came from a goal down to overcome Andorra 2-1 courtesy of a brace from Real Madrid forward Bale.
A penalty by Ildefons Lima after six minutes gave Andorra a shock lead, with the goal being Andorra’s first in a competitive match since September 2010.
Bale however equalised for Wales midway through the first half when he headed in a cross by Ben Davies and then came close to putting the visitors ahead 12 minutes into the second half only for his freekick to be kept out.
The Real Madrid man was proving a thorn in Andorra’s skin as he had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line by Joseph Ayaba as the hosts remained hopeful of ending the match with a point in the bag.
That hope was however dashed eight minutes from time when Bale scored the winner in dramatic fashion, curling in a freekick at the second attempt after the referee ordered a retake following encroachment by the Andorrans when Bale took the freekick the first time: a freekick the Andorran goalkeeper had saved.
In other results from Euro 2016 qualifying matches played tonight, Simone Zaza scored his first international goal in only his second appearance as Italy beat Norway 2-0 in a Group H match in Oslo while Cyprus came from a goal down to hand Bosnia-Herzegovina a shock 2-1 defeat in a Group B match.
Luka Modric and Andrej Kramaric scored at the start and end of the second half respectively to give Croatia a 2-0 win at home to 10-man Malta in Group H while Bulgaria came away from Azerbaijan with a 2-1 victory in another Group H encounter.
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