Luxembourg 0 Wales 2: Eastwood extends unbeaten run
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Your support makes all the difference.Freddy Eastwood put aside his frustration at club level to display his goalscoring prowess in Wales' friendly victory in Luxembourg last night. Eastwood, who has not started a Wolves game since Boxing Day, bagged a goal in each half to complete a comfortable win.
Wales have now gone five matches undefeated and lost just three of their last 16, but this did not require one of their better performances.
Luxembourg came into the match with a rare streak of confidence after their first competitive victory in 12 years, a 1-0 win over Belarus. They were quick to pull 10 men back and allow Wales to have the ball in their own half.
A lack of communication between Ashley Williams and goalkeeper Lewis Price almost allowed Alphonse Leweck to profit from an underhit back pass, and it was not until the 15th minute that Wales managed their first shot.
Wales took the lead after 37 minutes when Eastwood received a pass from Jason Koumas and forced his way into the box, sidestepping opponents before firing his low effort past Jonathan Joubert, his third goal in seven internationals.
One minute into the second period Wales were two up. Davies got away on the right to fire in a low cross for Eastwood to slam confidently past Joubert.
Wales' manager John Toshack said: "I was pleased with the result and pleased with Eastwood. There are still aspects of his game that can be improved, we want him to release the ball quicker when we are moving forward. He has not had much action at Wolves, but when he had the chance to pull on the Wales jersey, he gave everything."
Luxembourg: Joubert, Lang, Kintziger, Hoffmann, Wagner, Leweck (Da Mota, ht),Strasser, Joachim (Peters, ht), Remy, Mutsch, Oberweis. Substitutes used: Kitenge for Lang, ht; Peters for Joachim h-t; Da Mota for Leweck , h-t. Substitutes not used: Bigard, Peters, Collette, Lucic, Ferreira, Kitenge, Scholer.
Wales: Price (Derby), Eardley (Oldham), Ricketts (Hull), Williams (Stockport), Morgan (Peterborough), Nyatanga (Barnsley), Eastwood (Wolves), Fletcher (Crystal Palace), Koumas (Wigan), S Davies (Fulham), Easter (Wolves). Substitutes used: Myhill (Hull) for Price, h-t; Tudur-Jones (Swansea) for Easter, h-t; Duffy (Portsmouth) for Eardley, 65; Cotterill (Sheff Utd) for Fletcher, 74; Nardiello (Barnsley) for Nardiello, 79. Substitutes not used: Stock (Doncaster), Roberts (Doncaster).
Referee: B Kuipers (Netherlands).
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