Ben Fisher was in Cardiff to witness Wales’ long unbeaten home run come to a dramatic end. Here’s his verdict! Thanks for reading this Clockwatch. Nighty night.
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Louise Taylor was at Hampden Park tonight to see Scotland move on from their World Cup heartbreak. Her report has landed, and here it is!
FULL TIME: Republic of Ireland 0-1 Ukraine
Another dismal Nations League outing for Ireland, who have played 12 games in this fledgling competition during the last four years, and have yet to taste victory.
FULL TIME: Scotland 2-0 Armenia
FULL TIME: Belgium 6-1 Poland
Belgium, coming off the back of a 4-1 home defeat to the Netherlands, went behind again thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s opener. But what a response when all looked lost! Belgium, ranked second in the world, set about Poland in the second half with a series of top-notch goals. “Don’t choke on the humble pie Scott ;-),” quips Guido Van Asselt, which is more than fair enough given the nonsense I was talking earlier.
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FULL TIME: Wales 1-2 Netherlands
Wales lose at home for the first time since November 2018. Their unbeaten run at home, which stretched to 19 matches, was ended in sensational style by Wout Weghorst, who scored the winner deep into injury time, 100 seconds after Rhys Norrington-Davies looked to have salvaged a point for Wales.
Full-time scores
A4
Belgium 6-1 Poland
Wales 1-2 Netherlands
B1
Republic of Ireland 0-1 Ukraine
Scotland 2-0 Armenia
GOAL! Belgium 6-1 Poland (Openda 90+3)
This was 1-1 just before the hour!
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GOAL! Wales 1-2 Netherlands (Weghorst 90+4)
What a response by the Dutch! Frenkie de Jong is allowed to romp 50 yards down the middle of the park. He slips the ball wide left for Tyrell Malacia, who measures a cross towards Wout Weghorst on the penalty spot. Weghorst steers a header into the left-hand side of the net, Adam Davies given no chance!
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GOAL! Wales 1-1 Netherlands (Norrington-Davies 90+2)
Rhys Norrington-Davies rescues Wales at the death! A cross whipped in from the right. Norrington-Davies rises highest at the far post, beating the dozing Hans Hateboer all ends up, and powers into the top left!
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GOAL! Belgium 5-1 Poland (Dendoncker 84)
Leander Dendoncker sends a heatseeker into the net from the best part of 30 yards. Belgium have scored some fine goals this evening. Perhaps that Fifa ranking system isn’t so out of whack after all.
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GOAL! Belgium 4-1 Poland (Trossard 80)
A stunner from Leandro Trossard, who glides in from the left and curls an unstoppable shot into the top right!
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80 min: From the resulting corner, Michael Obafemi flashes a header wide left. Now it’s his turn to look frustrated.
79 min: Ireland so close to an equaliser! A cross whipped in from the right wing. Shane Duffy powers a header goalwards from six yards. He has to score, but the ball rattles the Ukrainian crossbar instead. Andriy Lunin might have got a fingertip to that, but even if it was a stunning save, he should never have been allowed to make it. A bad miss, and the look on Duffy’s face suggests he knows that only too well.
78 min: Gareth Bale is on for Wales. Cue some hangover-bothering loud cheers.
GOAL! Belgium 3-1 Poland (Trossard 73)
Brighton’s Leandro Trossard sashays down the right, glides into the box, and whips a low shot home. This has been a fine response by Belgium to falling behind in the wake of last week’s heavy defeat to the Netherlands.
75 min: Frenkie de Jong has the opportunity to spring Noa Lang clear down the middle, but gets the pass all wrong. For all the Dutch dominance, they’ve not been able to find the second goal that would surely clinch the win.
72 min: Noa Lang, just to the right of the Welsh D, curls towards the far stick. His cross looks to be dipping into the top left, and Frenkie de Jong hares towards the ball to make sure, but before he can head home from close range, Adam Davies arches his back and claws the ball away from danger. Great play all round.
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Energy dips in all four matches. It’s been a long season.
67 min: Meanwhile in Cardiff, Wales are offering very little up front. The Dutch look pretty comfortable ... and now they’ve sent on Frenkie de Jong, who is a pretty decent sub to have in your back pocket.
62 min: Ukraine are really piling the pressure on Ireland at the minute. A second goal seems much more likely than an equaliser.
GOAL! Belgium 2-1 Poland (De Bruyne 59)
Sent clear into the Polish box, Kevin De Bruyne opens his body and sidefoots casually into the bottom right. Roberto Martinez, we never doubted you!
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56 min: Up at Hampden, Andy Robertson should really release Ryan Christie into the box with a pass down the left channel, but he overcooks the pass and the ball sails out for a goal kick. Christie smiles widely nevertheless. Scotland are enjoying themselves tonight. Lovely to see after the misery of last week.
58 min: Hearts in mouths in Cardiff, as Wout Weghorst dinks a cute pass down the inside-left channel to release Cody Gakpo into the box. Gakpo’s chip over Davies floats wide right of the goal, when he really should have scored, but the flag goes up belatedly for offside anyway.
52 min: A corner for Ireland. Shane Duffy floats a header straight into the arms of Andriy Lunin. That’s better, but it’s a low bar.
50 min: Ireland have been properly rattled by that nonsensical opener. Artem Dovbyk is allowed to dribble down the middle, all the way to the edge of the box, and should test Kelleher in the Irish goal. But he hesitates and his shot is eventually blocked.
GOAL! Republic of Ireland 0-1 Ukraine (Tsygankov 48)
The substitute Viktor Tsygankov takes a free kick out on the right touchline. He swings it into the Irish box. The ball bounces all the way through the area and into the top left! A complete fiasco in the Irish defence. Caoimhin Kelleher was late to react; his defenders didn’t react at all.
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GOAL! Wales 0-1 Netherlands (Koopmeiners 50)
Teun Koopmeiners isn’t to be denied! He’s found in a pocket of space just to the right of the Welsh D, and threads a diagonal shot towards the bottom left ... and in. Davies got some weak fingers on that, and probably should have stopped it. But the visitors take the lead!
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49 min: Teun Koopmeiners curls low around the wall and towards the bottom-left corner, but his shot is always flying wide, and Adam Davies knows it.
47 min: Chris Mepham wrestles with Cody Gakpo just outside the Welsh box, and this is an early opportunity for the Dutch to test Adam Davies, who has replaced Danny Ward at half time.
We’re underway in Cardiff again. The games in Glasgow and Dublin running a little late.
Half-time entertainment.
Half-time scores
A4
Belgium 1-1 Poland
Wales 0-0 Netherlands
B1
Republic of Ireland 0-0 Ukraine
Scotland 2-0 Armenia
45 min +2: Some head tennis in the Armeina six-yard box. John Souttar heads right to left for Scott McKenna, who crashes a header onto the crossbar. Jack Hendry whips the ball back from the right. McKenna smashes home. But VAR flags McKenna offside from Souttar’s header, and the score remains 2-0.
GOAL! Belgium 1-1 Poland (Witsel 42)
The Poles fail to clear their lines properly, the ball breaking to Axel Witsel on the right-hand edge of the D. He pearls a first-time right-footed shot into the top right. What a finish!
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42 min: There was about half an inch in that offside decision. Good news for Ireland, though it’s such a shame that goal won’t stand. It was an absolute peach.
40 min: Ukraine have the ball in the net in Dublin, Taras Kacharaba sending a diagonal Robbie Fowler-style dipping screamer into the top-left corner with the outside of his boot. But the goal’s ruled out for offside, Artem Dovbyk flagged correctly earlier in the move.
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GOAL! Scotland 2-0 Armenia (McKenna 40)
McGinn swings in a corner from the right. McKenna meets it, unchallenged, six yards out, and plants a downward header into the net. Easy as that.
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Imagine entrusting your supposed golden generation to Roberto Martinez, though. And there’s England thinking they dropped a clanger with Sven.
Belgium are the second best team in the world according to the Fifa rankings. Someone needs to double-check that spreadsheet.
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GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Poland (Lewandowski 28)
The irrepressible Robert Lewandowski opens the scoring in Brussels! Belgium, having been stuffed by the Dutch last week, are in more bother.
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GOAL! Scotland 1-0 Armenia (Ralston 28)
The Celtic right-back Anthony Ralston scores on his full debut! There’s space for Stuart Armstrong on the left. He curls towards the far post. From the corner of the six-yard box, Ralston guides a wonderful header across David Yurchenko in the Armenian goal, and into the left-hand side of the net. That’s a simple but lovely goal.
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28 min: Wales have come back well at the Netherlands. A free kick out on the right now. The home side load the box. Harry Wilson’s delivery is once again far too easy to deal with.
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25 min: A free kick for Wales, 30 yards out. Harry Wilson curls one towards the top left, but it’s a routine save for Mark Flekken.
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23 min: 𝄞 ♯ Dies venit (The time has come!) / O, dies luxit (Oh, new day!) / The Naaaa-aaaations League! 🎶
20 min: A big stroke of luck for Dutch keeper Mark Flekken, who takes his sweet time playing out from the back and eventually batters the ball against Dan James. The ricochet goes out for a goal kick, but that could have gone anywhere. The closest we’ve come to a shot on target in Cardiff, which speaks volumes.
19 min: Up at Hampden, John McGinn pearls a long-distance effort inches over the top-right corner. That took a coat of paint off the top of the bar.
16 min: Ukraine are getting on top in Dublin. Vitaliy Mykolenko crosses from the left for Mykola Shaparenko, who heads harmlessly wide right.
14 min: In Dublin, Mykhailo Mudryk slaloms his way down the middle before flashing a shot over the bar from distance. Ireland are looking for their first-ever win in Nations League football this evening.
14 min: ... so having said that, Wales win their first corner of the evening. It’s swung in from the left, and Harry Wilson rises highest at the near post. He should do better than sending a weak effort wide right.
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11 min: The Dutch are beginning to pin Wales back in Cardiff. It’s a couple of second-string teams out there, so exactly what tonight’s action means is a matter for intense debate, but here we are.
8 min: Scotland are all over Armenia like a cheap suit. Andy Robertson drags a shot across the face of goal that’s tipped around the post by David Yurchenko, then Callum McGregor flashes a header straight at the keeper. Where was this Scotland last week? Admittedly Armenia are no Ukraine, but then ask the Irish about that.
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5 min: Nearly a fast start for Scotland at Hampden against Armenia. Andy Robertson crosses deep from the left. His opposite number and full debutant Anthony Raltson meets it and cuts back for Stuart Armstrong, whose diagonal shot pings off the base of the left-hand post and away.
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4 min: An early booking for Jordan Teze, the PSV defender punished for a late and wholly cynical clip on Dan James.
2 min: It’s all very quiet at the Cardiff City Stadium during the early exchanges. It’s almost as though everyone’s coming off a three-day bender. “Presumably Rob Page’s approach to get the most out of his players today is focused less on tactics and formations and more on rehydration, caffeine and aspirin,” adds Peter Oh.
Whistles are sounded, and balls start rolling all over Europe. It’s all about Wales at the minute, for reasons obvious, so we’ll concentrate primarily on the action in Cardiff, as the home side look to avoid defeat against the Netherlands for the very first time in their history.
Cardiff, Glasgow, Dublin, Brussels ... everybody talk about Pop Muzik the Nations League! The teams are out, and we’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Republic of Ireland v Ukraine. Stephen Kenny makes two changes to the side which went down pitifully in Armenia on Saturday. Cyrus Christie replaces the injured Seamus Coleman at full back, while striker Troy Parrott makes way for midfielder Jason Knight. Ukraine boss Oleksandr Petrakov makes ten changes from Sunday’s soul-crushing World Cup play-off defeat in Wales. Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko starts again, while Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Serhiy Sydorchuk celebrates his 50th cap by captaining the team.
Republic of Ireland: Kelleher, Christie, Stevens, Duffy, Egan, Cullen, Robinson, Collins, Hendrick, Knight, Ogbene.
Ukraine: Lunin, Syrota, Popov, Sydorchuk, Shaparenko, Dovbyk, Mudryk, Mykolenko, Bondar, Kacharaba, Zubkov.
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Scotland v Armenia. Celtic full-back Anthony Ralston starts for the first time. He’s one of six changes to the side beaten 3-1 by Ukraine last week. John Souttar, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie are also in; Grant Hanley, Aaron Hickey, Liam Cooper, Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Lyndon Dykes drop out.
Scotland: Gordon, Robertson, Souttar, McGinn, McGregor, Adams, Christie, Hendry, McKenna, Armstrong, Ralston.
Armenia: Yurchenko, Hovhannisyan, Haroyan, Grigoryan, Bayramyan, Spertsyan, Barseghyan, Hovhannisyan, Mkoyan, Hambartsumyan, Adamyan.
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Wales v Netherlands. Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey have been rested by Rob Page, who makes seven changes from Sunday’s World Cup play-off victory against Ukraine. Ben Davies, Joe Rodon, Connor Roberts and Daniel James are the four survivors, with Bale on the bench. Louis Van Gaal meanwhile makes 11 changes from the Netherlands’ opening-night Nations League rout of Belgium.
Wales: Ward, Levitt, Davies, Mepham, Rodon, Wilson, Johnson, Roberts, Morrell, Norrington-Davies, James.
Netherlands: Flekken, Teze, de Ligt, de Vrij, Gakpo, Lang, Hateboer, Malacia, Schouten, Weghorst, Koopmeiners.
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Preamble
It’s a big-ish evening in the Nations League. Wales come back to earth after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time with 1958, taking on the Netherlands in Group A4. The Dutch always beat the Welsh – eight wins out of eight! – so good luck to Rob Page’s second string this evening. Meanwhile in Group B1, Scotland get their campaign underway with a supposedly easy home tie against Armenia, but look what they did to the Republic of Ireland last weekend. Meanwhile, Ireland themselves host Ukraine, who have some disappointment of their own to get over. All the games kick off at 7.45pm BST and we’ll keep you posted right here. It’s on!
A4: Belgium v Poland
A4: Wales v Netherlands
B1: Republic of Ireland v Ukraine
B1: Scotland v Armenia
