Craig Bellamy finally has a headline result to point to. Wales rebounded from an early deficit to beat a Norway side reduced to ten players, winning 2-1 in the Nations League and finishing a barren spell of six matches without victory.
The visitors struck first. Oscar Bobb exchanged passes with captain Martin Odegaard, slipped behind a sleepy home defence and stabbed the return ball past Danny Ward at his near post. The hosts looked rattled, yet they refused to wilt.
Sorba Thomas caused constant trouble on the left, and the pressure paid off shortly before the interval. Lewis Koumas moved the ball wide, Thomas delivered a cross, and Dan James arrived to convert his 11th goal for his country.
Momentum swung decisively after the restart. Within half a minute, Torbjorn Heggem grappled James to the ground just outside the box and received a red card. Neco Williams then stepped up and bent the resulting free kick inside Orjan Nyland’s right hand post, with the keeper hesitating on his line.
Substitutes Josh Sheehan and Mark Harris were both thwarted by Nyland as Wales hunted a third. Norway pushed late on, but Erling Haaland’s header from Marcus Pedersen’s cross went straight at Ward, and Jorgen Strand Larsen sent a shot over the bar.
The significance runs deeper than three points. This was Wales’ first triumph against a higher ranked opponent under Bellamy, and their first Nations League A win at the ninth attempt. Norway sit 18th globally, twenty places above the hosts, and Wales were missing Darlow, Lawlor, Rodon, Brooks and Wilson.
Fans had been unsettled after Bellamy’s summer talks with Burnley, so this display may mend a few fences. Wales still prop up Group 4, but Denmark visit on Sunday with belief restored.
