Wales beat Russia 3-0 to top Euro 2016 Group B

Wales secured their place in the Euro 2016 knockout stages as Group B winners after blasting their way past a sorry Russia 3-0 in Toulouse.

Chris Coleman’s side made a fast start at the Stadium Municipal, scoring twice inside the opening 20 minutes through Aaron Ramsey and Neil Taylor, before Bale added a third midway through the second half.

Wales win the group ahead of England, who could only manage a goalless draw with Slovakia in the night’s other game, and will now play one of the best third-place teams on Saturday.

The Wales boss made just the one alteration from Thursday’s 2-1 loss to England, with Burnley striker Sam Vokes replacing Hal Robson-Kanu in attack.

Meanwhile, Russia rung the changes after a disappointing 2-1 loss to Slovakia in midweek, with manager Leonid Slutsky bringing in four new players, three of them in midfield, as they went in search of the win to keep them in the tournament.

However, right from the very off Wales tore into their opponents, winning every 50-50 ball and attacking Russia with pace, with Gareth Bale involved in everything.

The Real Madrid forward wasted little time in testing Russia No 1 Igor Akinfeev with an early shot from the right-hand edge of the box, with Vokes scoring from the rebound, only to be correctly adjudged offside.

That near miss mattered little, though, a few minutes later when Wales opened the scoring thanks to Ramey’s 11th goal for his country.

Wales won the ball back in the centre of the park, before midfielder Joe Allen released Ramsey through on goal with an inch-perfect defence-splitting pass, with the Arsenal man keeping his cool by dinking the ball over the onrushing Akinfeev.

Less than 10 minutes later and Wales had doubled their lead through the most unlikely of scorers, Swansea City left-back Taylor, whose first-ever international goal sparked jubilant scenes both in the stands and on the touchline.

Once again that man Bale was heavily involved, with the Madrid playmaker’s deflected pass still finding its way through to the overlapping Taylor charging into the box.

And despite Akinfeev doing well to keep out Taylor’s first effort, the 27-year-old was in the right place at the right time to put the rebound into the empty net as Wales took control of the contest.

Wales had further chances to increase their lead before the break, with Bale at the forefront off all their good work, and none more so than on the half-hour mark.

The 26-year-old went on another of his lung-busting solo runs, before slipping Vokes through on goal, only for the increasingly busy Akinfeev to deny the striker with his legs.

Madrid man, who could have had a penalty after being felled by Russia Vasili Berezutski, also went close twice more leading up to half-time as Akinfeev was forced to deal with stinging shots from distance.

However, any Welsh nerves were settled after 67 minutes when Bale final got the goal his eye-catching display merited.

Chris Gunter charged up the right flank before finding Ramsey and the blond-haired midfielder then picked out the run of Bale, who had no problems lifting the ball over Akinfeev as the forward became the first player to score in all three group games at the Euros since 2004.