Date: June 25, 2016
Result: Wales 1 Northern Ireland 0
Scorers:
Wales: McAuley 75 og
Northern Ireland: none
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris
Match overview:
An own goal by Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley gave a Wales a scrappy 1-0 win in Paris to take them into the quarter-finals as their historic run continued.
There were few chances in game in which Wales were contained by an industrious Northern Ireland side that was well drilled by manager Michael O’Neill and far more aware of how to nullify Welsh strengths than Russia had been in Wales’s last group game.
Wales claimed victory in all-British affair despite not winning a corner in the entire game. Sam Vokes headed wide from an Aaron Ramsey cross in one of the few quality moments of the second half, while Jamie Ward came closest for Northern Ireland with a shot from distance that stung the fingers of Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.
Northern Ireland keeper Michael McGovern did well to reach another fine free-kick from Gareth Bale in the second half but he could do little about the cross from Bale that McAuley turned past him in the 75th minute as Wales reached the quarter-finals.
Key moment:
Gareth McAuley turning Gareth Bale’s cross into his own net for the only goal of the game. McAuley had to intervene to prevent Bale’s excellent delivery from reaching Welsh striker Hal Robson-Kanu, who was closing in behind him.
Man of the match:
Gareth Bale was schackled by Northern Ireland for much of the match but he was still got free to supply the dynamic cross that McAuley turned into his own net for the Welsh goal.
Matter of fact:
This was the first encounter between two British teams in the knockout stages of a major tournament.
Talking point:
In a game of few chances, there was more entertainment from the fans in the stands than the players on the pitch. Northern Ireland could claim to have been the better side after they restricted Wales to few chances by denying the Welsh time and space to build attacks. But the arrival of substitute Jonny Williams added more urgency to Wales’ game and he released Bale to supply the cross which McAuley turned into his own net.
Stats:
Goal attempts
Wales: 7
Northern Ireland: 6
Attempts on target
Wales: 1
Northern Ireland: 3
Corners
Wales: 0
Northern Ireland: 6
Line-ups:
Wales
01 Wayne Hennessey
02 Chris Gunter
03 Neil Taylor
04 Ben Davies
05 James Chester
06 Ashley Williams
07 Joe Allen
10 Aaron Ramsey
11 Gareth Bale
16 Joe Ledley (20 Jonny Williams 63)
18 Sam Vokes (09 Hal Robson-Kanu 55)
Starting formation: 3-5-2
Hennessey – Davies, A Williams, Chester – Gunter, Allen, Ledley, Ramsey, Taylor – Bale, Vokes
Northern Ireland
01 Michael McGovern
04 Gareth McAuley (21 Josh Magennis 84)
05 Jonny Evans
08 Steven Davis
10 Kyle Lafferty
13 Corry Evans
14 Stuart Dallas
16 Oliver Norwood (07 Niall McGinn 79)
18 Aaron Hughes
19 Jamie Ward (11 Conor Washington 69)
20 Craig Cathcart
Starting formation: 4-5-1
McGovern – Hughes, McAuley, J Evans, Cathcart – Ward, Davis, C Evans, Norwood, Dallas – Lafferty
Yellow cards:
Wales: Taylor 58, Ramsey 90
Northern Ireland: Dallas 44, David 67
Referee: Martin Atkinson (Eng)
Attendance: 44,342
