It has been a dismal first half for Martin O'Neills Ireland in Cardiff tonight. The boys in green have been outclassed in the first 45 minutes with strikes from Tom Lawrence, Aaron Ramsey and a Gareth Bale goalazo separating the sides at the break.
Lawrence opened the scoring with the first meaningful attack of the match in the 6th minute, finishing at Darren Randolph's near post after being slipped through by Joe Allen:
Tom Lawrence gets @Cymru and Ryan Giggs off the mark after a lovely ball from Joe Allen! ?
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— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 6, 2018
Bale would double Wales' advantage in the 18th minute, expertly taking the ball down from a searching pass from Ben Davies before cutting in on his left and finishing superbly past a helpless Darren Randolph:
Pick that one out! ?
Gareth Bale strikes an absolute beauty for Wales to put them 2 up! ???????
Watch @Cymru v @FAIreland in the UEFA Nations League live on Sky Sports Main Event now! https://t.co/jWe8Ua2iRg
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 6, 2018
Ireland would go onto have just one clear cut chance in the half when Callum Robinson failed to hit the target in the box after being found by Seamus Coleman, but it was to get worse for Ireland before half time when Jonathan Walters had his pocket picked on the half way line and the ball quickly found its way to Ramsey again who finished low to Randolph's left:
Ireland have not mustered much in attack in the opening half, with O'Neill missing some of his more experienced troops in Robbie Brady, James McClean, James McCarthy and Shane Long.
