Wales warmed up for Euro 2024 qualifying action by cruising to a 4-0 win over Gibraltar in Wrexham.
All the goals came in the first half as Kieffer Moore scored twice with Ben Davies and Nathan Broadhead also getting on the scoresheet.
After last month’s victory in Latvia, it was the first time Wales had achieved back-to-back wins since November 2021.
The performance, especially the opening period, will encourage Wales manager Rob Page ahead of the vital qualifier against Croatia on Sunday, even if Gibraltar’s standing in world football must be taken into account.
This was the maiden meeting between the two nations at senior level and also marked Wales’ return to the SToK Racecourse for the first time since beating Trinidad and Tobago there in 2019.
The Football Association of Wales were rewarded with a sell-out crowd of 10,008 as fans in the north showed their appetite to support the national team.
Page rested several regulars with the Croatia fixture in mind, when Wales will realistically need at least a point to keep alive hopes of automatic qualification for next summer’s European Championship finals in Germany.
Davies took over the captaincy in the absence of the injured Aaron Ramsey, the Tottenham defender winning his 81st cap as Gibraltar played the 81st match in their history.
Charlie Savage, the 20-year-old son of former Wales midfielder Robbie, Joe Low, Regan Poole and Liam Cullen were handed first caps.
Savage, in particular, could be satisfied with his night’s work as he showed composure in possession and exhibited a good range of passing.
Gibraltar came into the game 198th in the world with only nine nations below them on FIFA’s rankings table.
Preparing to play the Republic of Ireland in Euro qualification on Monday, Gibraltar had suffered six straight defeats and not scored since a 1-0 friendly win over Andorra 11 months ago.
The loudest cheer in the opening minutes came when Savage evoked memories of his father with a crunching, but fair, challenge on Tjay De Barr that left the Gibraltar forward on the floor.
Broadhead was off target with a couple of efforts before Wales took the lead after 22 minutes from an unlikely source.
Skipper Davies rose highest from Broadhead’s corner and Gibraltar’s fallibility in the air was punished again when Moore met Savage’s cross to score expertly off a post.
Daniel James, on early for the injured Wes Burns, was causing havoc down the left and forced a sprawling save from Dayle Coleing.
The over-worked Gibraltar goalkeeper also denied Savage twice and Liam Walker cleared another Davies effort off the line.
Broadhead then took James’ 35th-minute pass and turned smartly to find the top corner of Coleing’s net with a sweet right-footed strike.
Cullen twice went close and the fourth arrived on the stroke of half-time as James scampered free again to deliver a perfect cross for the waiting head of Moore.
Page made a raft of substitutions at half-time and the contest lost much of its rhythm.
The changes also removed the possibility of Wales eclipsing their record 11-0 win against Ireland in 1888.
Tom Bradshaw was inches from connecting with a Josh Sheehan cross that flashed across goal, but the second half was largely a nondescript affair.
James shook the crowd from their slumber with an angled effort that rattled the woodwork, but Wales had already achieved their objectives heading into Sunday.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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