Kieffer Moore, a former lifeguard, saved Wales’s Euro 2020 qualification hopes from sinking with a goal that spared them defeat in Trnava. The 6ft 5in striker, who has had to fight his way from non-league on to the international stage, repaid Ryan Giggs’s faith by using his frame to head Wales in front during a faultless first-half performance.
A Juraj Kucka volley restored parity and had Wales swimming against a riptide of Slovakia pressure but they refused to get swept away and held on for a point that keeps them in the qualification mix. Wales must beat at least Azerbaijan and Hungary after Sunday’s qualifier with the runaway group leaders Croatia to stand any chance of recreating their 2016 campaign.