Wales 0-1 Republic of Ireland – Player Ratings
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- 5 min read
Wales and Ireland met at the Cardiff City Stadium with the World Cup hope of both sides hanging in the balance and in the end, it was…
The first half was very tight, with both sets of players performing like they knew what was at stake.
Ireland, needing to win, took the lead just before the hour mark when James McClean fired home a great strike after a mistake from Ashley Williams.
Results from elsewhere also filtered through so the whole stadium knew Wales needed to win the game to qualify, a draw would not be enough and as much as they searched for a goal, they were unable to get one and as such, were eliminated and Ireland advanced to the playoffs.
Here are how both sets of players rated in the game:
Wayne Hennessey - 5
Parlty to blame for the goal after he put Williams under pressure with a pretty average throw.
Chris Gunter - 6
Had a pretty solid game all in all.
Ben Davies - 5
Had a decent chance but got his header all wrong, wasn’t able to contribute much in attack.
James Chester - 6
Defended pretty well and came close to getting a goal with a header.
Ashley Williams - 4
Defended well but will be haunted for life by his error in the build up to the goal.
Joe Allen - 6
Allen was forced off after 35 minutes with a head injury.
Joe Ledley - 7
Probably Wales’ best player, he kept his head and was up for the battle.
Andy King - 6
Put in plenty of effort on the right but did look a bit lost in a strange position.
Aaron Ramsey - 5
His poor free-kick summed the game up. With Gareth Bale out, he was meant to be the main man but he couldn’t drag his side over the line.
Tom Lawrence - 6
Looked confident on the ball and had some promising momnets but his shooting radar was a bit off.
Hal Robson-Kanu - 6
Ran his socks off as usual and was only denied a headed goal by a very, very good save from Randolph.
Wales Subs
Jonny Williams – 6: Replaced Allen and was full of energy. Put in a very good cross for Robson-Kanu.
Ben Woodburn – 6: Put in one very good cross but time was against him.
Sam Vokes – 5: Didn’t really pose much of a threat as Ireland sat deep
Darren Randolph - 8
Plenty of toasts will be being made to Darren Randolph in Ireland. He made a good save from Ramsey and an even better one from Robson-Kanu to keep a clean sheet.
Cyrus Christie - 6
Was solid in defence but didn’t really try to do much in attack.
Ciaran Clark - 7
Defended resolutely, although he did come close to putting the ball in his own net.
Shane Duffy - 7
Similar to Clark, Duffy was very good defensively.
Stephen Ward - 6
Was solid in defence, although he did give away a corner with one of the funniest miss-hits you’ll ever see.
David Meyler
Offered very good protection to the back four by holding his position well.
Jeff Hendrick - 7
Did very well to win the ball back in the build up to the goal and was full of industry all night.
Harry Arter - 6
Played a nice dummy in the build up to the goal and worked his socks off all game.
Robbie Brady - 6
His set-pieces were pretty good but he struggled to get into the game.
James McClean - 8
Got Ireland’s only real chance and finished it so well, keeping calm under immense pressure.
Daryl Murphy - 6
Battled for plenty of balls in the air and chased everything.
Ireland Sub:
Glenn Whelan – 6: Replaced Arter for the last ten minutes. Was pretty solid if not spectacular.