Moore's close-range finish fulfils Wales' long-distance mission

Kazakhstan, 114th in the Fifa rankings and all in yellow, represented a banana skin on an artificial surface in Astana. Their last World Cup qualifying victory was almost 12 years ago, a narrow success against the Faroe Islands, but this was anything but a straightforward win for Wales.

- Ben Fisher

By the end the chances were totting up, Craig Bellamy's side clinging on with the Kazakhstan substitute Serikzhan Muzhikov cracking the bar with the final action, a 95th-minute free-kick. The visitors were ultimately grateful for Kieffer Moore's first-half strike, which was sufficient to earn a victory that keeps alive their hopes of automatic qualification.

The challenges of a 7,000-mile round trip traversing six time zones meant it was always going to be a game where any kind of win would do. Even more so given Wales's only full training session came 24 hours before kick-off. As it happened, it was an unconvincing and sticky display.

The most polished Wales performer was the 19-year-old debutant Dylan Lawlor, with the Cardiff centre-back assured in and out of possession. This was another milestone for Lawlor, who only made his Wales Under-21s debut in June.