Wales surrender two-goal lead in Iceland draw but Craig Bellamy remains unbeaten

Posted Saturday, October 12, 2024 by PA

Wales let a two-goal lead slip as Iceland stormed back to force a deserved 2-2 Nations League draw in Reykjavik.

Brennan Johnson maintained his remarkable scoring streak and Harry Wilson was also on target as Wales established a commanding interval advantage.

But Iceland substitute Logi Tomasson turned the game in the space of three second-half minutes as Wales were unable to stem a blue tide surging towards them.

Wales surrender two-goal lead in Iceland draw but Craig Bellamy remains unbeaten — Iceland’s Logi Tomasson, center, celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal (Arni Torfason/AP)

Tomasson swept home after 69 minutes and then caused further mayhem by breaking beyond the Wales defence and forcing Danny Ward into an unfortunate own goal at his near post.

Wales came into the contest buoyed by positive performances and four Nations League points from Craig Bellamy’s first two games in charge last month.

Skipper Aaron Ramsey, Ethan Ampadu and Daniel James were all missing through injury as Bellamy shuffled his pack from the 2-1 win in Montenegro.

Out went Ampadu, Karl Darlow, Chris Mepham and Lewis Koumas with Johnson – a substitute in Niksic – among those returning after scoring in six consecutive games for Tottenham.

Iceland – down in 71st in the world rankings and 42 places lower than Wales – included Andri Gudjohnsen, the 22-year-old son of former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur.

On a freezing evening and difficult pitch in the world’s most northerly capital, Wales needed time to warm up as Iceland made the initial running.

Wales profited from their first attack after 11 minutes as Ben Davies picked out Wilson with a superb ball over the top.

Wilson shot was partially saved by Hakon Valdimarsson who raced back towards his goal to stop the ball going over the line.

Hear that Dragon roar! 🐉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
💻 https://t.co/Ee3GvSzZGO #NationsLeague | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/XgDmwSgfhn
— Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@Cymru) October 11, 2024

Valdimarsson managed to do that but he could only push it back for Johnson to poke the ball home from a yard out for his fourth Wales goal.

Wilson and Johnson linking up was a constant cause of concern for Iceland hosts, who created some promising position before being let down by wayward shooting.

Wilson’s deflected shot struck a post with Valdimarsson rooted to the spot, but the Fulham forward did not have to wait long for his 11th Wales goal.

Neco Williams’ raking pass picked out Wilson’s run from deep and the left-footed finish was emphatic.

Gudjohnsen was inches from reducing the deficit as Williams produced a brilliant goalline clearance and Johann Berg Gudmundsson curled a free-kick over.

Wales should have had a third before half-time as Wilson’s defence-splitting ball sent Sorba Thomas through for a one-on-one contest that Valdimarsson won.

The only first-half blot for Wales was a second booking in the competition for Johnson, ruling him out of Monday’s home game against Montenegro, and he made way at the break for Wes Burns.

There was a clear shift in momentum at the start of the second period as Mikael Ellertsson scooped over a glorious chance and Orri Oskarsson caused real problems for the Wales defence.

Oskarsson rattled the crossbar from 20 yards and then forced a fine save from Ward.

Ollie Cooper broke the shackles to test Valdimarsson with a low drive, but Ward made an outstanding save from Gudmundsson before Tomasson’s decisive contribution.

It almost got worse for the Dragons as Thorsteinsson clattered a post two minutes from time.

But Wales held on for a draw as Bellamy became the first Wales manager to avoid defeat in each of his first three competitive matches.