Viborg, November 1, 2023 – The Welsh national team displayed a significantly better performance in Viborg despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to Denmark in Group Three of the Nations League A.
Forward Amalie Vangsgaard gave the home team the lead when she headed a ball into the corner of the net.
Sofie Bredgaard doubled Denmark’s advantage before the first half ended with a beautiful curling left-footed shot.
Jess Fishlock’s goal in the 72nd minute offered a great opportunity for Wales, but Denmark managed to hold on for the win.
Wales manager Gemma Grainger stated before the match that this is the most challenging period in her coaching career after Wales suffered their second consecutive 5-1 defeat to Germany in Sinsheim on Friday.
This performance, although it didn’t lift Wales from the bottom of their group, underlined the progress the team has made in recent years as they proved highly competitive against the group leaders and the 12th-ranked team in the world.
Without the injured duo of Hannah Cain and Ceri Holland, who both started in Germany, and Rangers’ Rachel Rowe, who couldn’t travel, Grainger opted for the first time to change her team’s formation, with Wales switching to a back-five formation.
Ffion Morgan and Carrie Jones both entered the lineup to add dynamism to the Welsh attack on a freezing evening in Viborg, and Wales performed better in all aspects compared to their match against Germany.
Wales’ hopes of avoiding relegation from League A in the Nations League are likely to rest on their home clash with Iceland on December 1, but there was a need to produce a better performance than in Sinsheim, where the hosts, Germany, had a whopping 35 attempts on goal.
The change in formation certainly added some solidity for Wales, but it was the hosts who looked more threatening in the opening exchanges.
Some wayward finishing helped Wales, with Vangsgaard and Sanne Troelsgaard missing the target after dangerous crosses, while Vangsgaard’s early effort from an acute angle was pushed away by Bristol City goalkeeper Olivia Clark.
However, after restricting the hosts for 28 minutes, Wales was once again undone by a cross and a header – their Achilles heel in this campaign – with Vangsgaard given far too much space to head the ball past the reach of Clark after Bredgaard’s cross.
Wales was unable to gain a foothold in the game, with the hosts almost constantly in possession, and they fell further behind in the 38th minute when Angharad James was dispossessed by Mille Gejl, who set up Bredgaard to curl the ball home from the edge of the penalty box.
It took 43 minutes for Wales to muster a shot against the Danes, with Fishlock firing just over after some neat build-up play, but only a skillful stop by Clark denied Vangsgaard a second in first-half stoppage time.
Vangsgaard was within a whisker of adding a third Danish goal on the hour mark when she met Sofie Svava’s teasing cross, but her header clipped the crossbar before Josephine Hasbo’s deflected shot crept inches wide after striking Rhiannon Roberts’ arm.
The failure to award a penalty for handball kept Wales in the contest, and they set up a grandstand finish in the 72nd minute with a goal against the run of play as they capitalized on a Danish defensive error, with Sophie Ingle’s clever pass finding Fishlock, who made no mistake in slotting the ball home.
The goal prompted attacking substitutions from Grainger, who switched to a four-man defense. After capitulating in the final 10 minutes of their previous two games, it was Wales who suddenly had some momentum, pressing Denmark higher up the pitch as they looked to steal an unlikely point.
A chance to force an equalizer did not arrive, but Wales will take heart from pushing the hosts and ending the contest on the front foot, pushing for an equalizer.
Wales manager Gemma Grainger said:
“I am really happy with the second half; the girls could have come out after the break and folded, but they really showed their resilience.zzzzzzzzz
“I am really proud of the way we are growing; we utilized more players, and we really competed with Denmark, and we are disappointed we haven’t equalized in the final moments of the game.
“The seed two teams are the ones we want to close the gap on; we know it’s a big gap, but that’s what we want to do.
“I have absolute belief in the direction we are moving in, and every player does. Individual mistakes will be punished against top teams.
“We have been positive after every game. We don’t like losing games, but we have perspective because in League A the gap between the top two teams and the rest is massive.”
