EURO 2020
Wales 1-1 Switzerland: Moore earns Dragons a point in Baku
Kieffer Moore headed home to earn Wales a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their opening Group A match at the Baku Olympic Stadium.
The Cardiff City striker was recalled to Wales' starting line-up for Saturday's clash and justified interim boss Rob Page's selection call by earning his side a crucial point.
Switzerland had won their previous six games and were on course for another victory when Breel Embolo guided in Xherdan Shaqiri's corner early in the second half.
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However, Vladimir Petkovic's side could not hold on and were further frustrated late on when substitute Mario Gavranovic had a goal ruled out for offside.
The draw leaves Italy top of Group A following their 3-0 win over Turkey in Rome on Friday.
Four of Kieffer Moore's six goals for Wales in all competitions have been headers #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/QbLJnrfcFv— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 12, 2021
Wales started the match brightly and went close to opening the scoring 15 minutes in through a Moore header that Yann Sommer did well to push over the crossbar.
Danny Ward was called into action up the other end to deny Fabian Schar after the centre-back turned Shaqiri's corner on target with a smart flick.
Switzerland soon took control of possession and squandered another big chance before half-time when Haris Seferovic fired off target from seven yards once teed up by Embolo.
The two men combined early in the second half as Seferovic played in his team-mate to race through and force Ward into a second big save of the contest.
However, Embolo held off Connor Roberts from the subsequent corner and headed Shaqiri's delivery past Ward into the bottom-left corner.
Kevin Mbabu scuffed wide from a good position and Switzerland struggled to make more of their possession, which would come back to haunt them 16 minutes from time.
Joe Morrell sent in a cross from the right and Moore, a presence at both ends of the field throughout, glanced a header in to get Wales off the mark.
Gavranovic thought he had won the game for Switzerland moments after being introduced from the bench, but his left-footed strike was ruled out.
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