One week ago, Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale were on opposite sides of the north London divide.

But on Friday night they joined forces to devastating effect as the first qualification match at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium ended in home victory.

Ramsey’s penalty shortly before the hour was doubled by a trademark Bale finish as Wales made it back-to-back home victories in Group G. But they were undoubtedly given a helping hand from referee Bjorn Kuipers.

Hot shot: Gareth Bale scores Wales' second goal to seal his side's win over Switzerland

It was to prove a pivotal moment as the Swiss lost their composure, conceding a spot-kick that  enabled Wales to draw first blood.

This victory, allied to the defeat of Montenegro last month, is the first time since 1991 that Wales have beaten two teams ranked in the top 20 of world football.

Head coach Gary Speed was delighted and said: ‘Switzerland are probably the best team we have played against. The key was surviving until half-time because I knew in the second half there would be more opportunities. We may be turning the corner, but we are not around it yet.’

Speed added: ‘It was a harsh red card but you couldn’t deny that it was a penalty. In fairness, we had five or six claims. He could have given any one of those.’

« Previous12345Next »