Key events
73 min: Jovetić reminds everyone this is very much still in the balance by flaying a shot over the bar from 25 yards. There’s a bit of tension in the Cardiff City Stadium now.
72 min: Back in Cardiff, Wales turn it up a notch. Williams wins a corner down the right. That comes to nothing, but Thomas probes down the inside-left, before swinging a long cross towards Williams, who lashes a fierce drive over the bar from a tight angle. In truth it was never anywhere near, but this is better after a slightly ragged period.
70 min: Turkey have turned it around in Reykjavik. Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s penalty gives the Euro 2024 quarter-finalists a 2-1 lead against Iceland.
69 min: Craig Bellamy responds to this state of affairs by replacing Burns and Wilson with Thomas and Broadhead.
68 min: For the first time this evening, Wales are beginning to look a little stretched. Are we witnessing another second-half downturn?
66 min: So much for the danger. Jovetić sends a hysterical effort, presumably meant for the top-right corner, high into the stand behind.
65 min: A ball comes in from the Montenegro left. Janković shapes like Zinedine Zidane in the 2002 Champions League final, but isn’t able to cream a shot goalwards, as he’s clipped mid-volley by Harris. It will be a free kick just to the left of the Wales D, though. A very dangerous position.
63 min: Turkey have equalised in Reykjavik, İrfan Kahveci levelling against Iceland. It’s all to play for in Group B4 all right.
62 min: Radulović is beginning to cause problems for Wales down the inside-right channel. He should probably tee up Vukčević, haring in on the overlap, for a shot from a tight angle, but overcooks the pass. Vukčević hooks back from the byline but the chance is gone and Wales clear up.
60 min: Burns makes good down the left and crosses low for Cullen, who instigates an almighty scramble in the Montenegro box but can’t get a shot away. The visitors eventually clear their lines. The second half took a while to get going, but it’s good fun now.
59 min: Brooks makes way for the equally popular Allen, who returns to international football after his self-imposed exile.
58 min: Bakić is booked for a fairly agricultural lunge on Cullen. Montenegro are beginning to lose it.
56 min: Oh my goodness. Montenegro have done nothing so far, but now they nearly equalise in sensational style. Radulović cuts in from the right, seeing off Davies with ease, before sending a power-curler across and over Darlow, towards the top left, and off the crossbar. The resulting TWANG can be heard in Swansea. That would have been a peach. Presumably the aesthete Bellamy, preaching his art-for-art’s-sake doctrine, would have rather that had gone in? You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you.
55 min: Williams, Brooks and Wilson paint some pretty triangles at high speed down the right-hand side of the pitch. The flowing move eventually breaks down, but full marks for both aesthetic effect and ambition, and you can be sure Craig Bellamy approves.
53 min: Another sub goes into the book. This time it’s Vukčević, for brazenly kneeing Davies up the fundament, then throwing the ball away upon being penalised for it. Robert Prosinecki’s half-time hairdrying technique needs some recalibration.
51 min: It’s been an admin-infused start to the second half, but otherwise, there’s nothing much going on. “Harry Wilson is such a good footballer, but has just never had the consistency,” writes Matt Dony of today’s Player of the Match So Far. “As a youngster at Liverpool, it looked like he could be a top, top, top player. Ultimately, though, he’s never put it all together for any length of time. (See also: Dan James) I love watching him play, and he’s had some brilliant moments in a Welsh shirt. He’s never going to be the player he threatened to be, but hey, he’s hardly unique in that respect.”
49 min: A cross comes into the Welsh box. Jovetić sticks up a leg, is penalised for a high boot, and complains about it. He goes into the book, and will miss Montenegro’s next match, at home against Iceland, as a result. Not the immediate impact his coach would have been looking for.
Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
47 min: Thick smoke pours from the fourth-official’s numbers board. OK, not really, but in a parallel universe, etc.
Wales get the second half underway. Montenegro have made four changes. Jovetić replaces Mugoša and gets his armband back. Meanwhile Radunović, Radulović and Marko Vukčević come on for Andrija Vukčević, Camaj and Marušić.
In the other Group B4 match, it’s Iceland 1-0 Turkey at half-time. Orri Óskarsson with a third-minute goal. Should both matches end like this, we’ll have quite the battle for promotion to League A on our hands. And quite the scrap to avoid third spot and the relegation play-offs. It promises to be a lot of fun! (And let’s try our best to remember that when we all start moaning ahead of the November international break.)
Wales P3 W2 D2 L0 F5 A3 Pts 8
Turkey P3 W2 D1 L1 F4 A2 Pts 7
Iceland P3 W2 D1 L1 F6 A5 Pts 7
Montenegro P3 W0 D0 L4 F1 A6 Pts 0
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HALF TIME: Wales 1-0 Montenegro
Wales have the lead they deserve, and for the most part, had the control their new boss Craig Bellamy desires.
45 min +2: A careless Burns backpass down the Montenegro right forces Sheehan into the concession of a corner. Some unnecessary pressure for Wales to deal with late in the half. But Rodon rises highest to head the corner clear.
45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Cullen latches onto a loose ball in the centre circle. He’s got options with Montenegro light at the back, but gets over-excited and plays a premature pass down the middle in the hope of finding Harris, who is never getting to the ball. The crowd groan as the chance of a dangerous counter-attack passes by.
42 min: That man Wilson shifts the ball between his feet on the edge of the Montenegro D, seeing off Šipčić before whipping a crisp drive inches wide of the right-hand post.
41 min: Wilson is everywhere at the moment. He slips a pass down the inside-left channel for Brooks, who can’t get a meaningful shot away on the edge of the box. Shame, because Burns had started that move with a clever turn and surge.
40 min: Another free kick on the right, though this one’s up the other end, Janković being clipped by Cullen. Montenegro line up on the edge of the Welsh area. Wilson, a hero right now at both ends, heads the free kick powerfully clear.
38 min: Brooks is skittled by Vukčević out on the right wing. Wilson swings a dangerous free kick into the mixer, but the whistle goes after some overly excited Welsh engagement.
37 min: Krstović tries to respond immediately, powering his way past Williams down the left and shooting low and hard towards the bottom left. Darlow gets down at his near post and handles well. Especially as the shot took a very slight deflection en route to the keeper.
GOAL! Wales 1-0 Montenegro (Wilson pen 36)
There’s the usual pre-penalty faff, the defenders doing their best to drag things out. But it doesn’t put Wilson off. He waits patiently, before giving Nikić the eyes, and passing into the bottom left, the keeper having been sent the wrong way. Wales deservedly lead!
Penalty for Wales!
34 min: Wilson attempts a Cruyff Turn just inside the box on the right. He’s nicked by the utterly foxed Jovović, and though the referee takes his sweet time, he eventually points to the spot!
33 min: … so having said that (again) … Brooks shoots from distance. Nikić turns the shot around the post for a corner. It’s sent in from the right, and …
