Wales Sport at Cardiff City Stadium

 

Wales suffered a setback in their World Cup qualifying campaign as a sloppy display saw them held at home by lowly Georgia.

Gareth Bale headed the hosts into an early lead but Georgia, ranked 137th in the world, equalised as an unmarked Tornike Okriashvili nodded in.
Wales unravelled from that point and were lucky not to lose as their opponents squandered several late chances with Valeri Kazaishvili hitting the bar.
Chris Coleman's side are now third in Group D following wins for Serbia and Republic of Ireland.

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Although the European Championship semi-finalists remain unbeaten after their first three fixtures of this campaign, these dropped points could prove costly in their bid to qualify for a first World Cup since 1958.
While Wales were underwhelming, their opponents richly deserved their point as they avoided defeat away from home in a competitive match for just the second time since 2012.

Wales let it slip

Okriashvili's goal marked the first time Wales have conceded in a home qualifier for 481 minutes Having claimed a creditable draw away against Group D's second seeds Austria three days earlier, Wales entered this match as clear favourites as they sought to strengthen their hold on top spot. And despite being without injured midfielders Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey, Wales seized early control of the encounter as they stretched Georgia with quick and incisive passing. It was one such sequence of slick interplay which led to the corner which produced Bale's opener, a firm header and the Real Madrid forward's 25th international goal. From that point, however, the intensity and pace of the match diminished as Wales seemed content to rest on their one-goal lead. They became ponderous in possession and sloppy in defence, and they were punished when Okriashvili found space in the Welsh penalty area to head in and silence a dumbfounded Cardiff City Stadium. Despite using all three substitutions and hurling bodies forward, Wales were ragged at both ends of the field and were fortunate not to suffer the ignominy of a home defeat against Group D's bottom seeds.