Cymru edged out by Romania

Romania 2-1 Cymru

• Romania have goal ruled out before Florinel Coman gives his team the lead
• David Brooks comes off the bench to equalise
• Adrian Rus scores winner from a corner kick

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Romania claimed a 2-1 victory over Cymru in Bucharest in the first meeting between the two nations since 1993, but the scoreline only told part of the story as both teams created a host of chances.

Craig Bellamy made five changes to his starting line-up following the 1-1 draw with Ghana in Cardiff on Tuesday as Danny Ward, Kai Andrews, Nathan Broadhead, Brennan Johnson and Rhys Norrington-Davies all came into the starting XI, while Ethan Ampadu continued as captain.

Bellamy had highlighted before the game the fact that Cymru had not won an away friendly since 2008, when he actually scored the only goal of the game against Denmark in Copenhagen. For Romania, this was a first home match for the legendary Gheorghe Hagi who returned for a second spell as head coach in April.

Cymru started the match on the front foot and used their pace in attack to ask questions of the home defence with Dan James and Neco Williams enjoying plenty of the ball on both sides of the pitch. Ampadu, Johnson and Kieffer Moore all had early chances, but Romania soon settled into the match and began to dictate matters.

Vlad Dragomir gave the home crowd a lift with a deflected effort that went narrowly wide, and further chances followed for Tudor Băluță and Dragomir again as they forced a series of corners. On 26 minutes Romania thought they had taken the lead through the impressive Louis Munteanu, but his fine finish was ruled out for offside.

Munteanu then forced Ward into making a decent save before Cymru composed themselves with Moore coming close to opening the scoring with a header that narrowly missed the target. However, it was Romania who almost took the lead before half-time as captain Nicolae Stanciu struck his free-kick just wide of Ward’s post.

Romania took the lead on 52 minutes when a smart finish from substitute Florinel Coman completed an excellent team move, but Cymru responded through David Brooks on 64 minutes just after his introduction from the bench as he volleyed a cross from James past Hindrich.

Lewis Koumas scored his first senior goal for Cymru against Ghana on Tuesday, and he looked lively as he came off the bench, forcing a save from Hindrich from a tight angle on 75 minutes. However, Romania remained dangerous on the counter-attack and Ward had to be at his best to deny Denis Drăguş.

Romania scored the decisive goal with ten minutes remaining as a short corner was delivered into the Cymru area and Adrian Rus was able to head past Ward. David Matei then hit the post before Ward pulled off an impressive double save from Drăguş and Rus. 

Cymru continued to push for an equaliser, and it was Koumas who once again tested Hindrich before the final whistle. A frustrating night for Bellamy’s side who created a number of chances, but equally, Romania could have increased their lead before this memorable contest came to a close.

Bellamy’s Cymru will next return to action in the UEFA Nations League between September and November where they will come up against Denmark, Norway and Portugal in League A.