North Macedonia v Wales LIVE: Reaction and result as Brooks rescues a point in stoppage time madness
Brooks levelled the scoring moments after North Macedonia bagged what looked like the winner
David Brooks scored with the final kick of the game in stoppage time drama to spare Craig Bellamy’s unbeaten record as Wales rescued a point against North Macedonia.
The hosts thought they’d won it as Bojan Miovski capitalised on a defensive error from Joe Allen to slot home past Karl Darlow in the 91st minute.
But in the sixth minute of added time - two minutes more than the allotted four - Brooks poked into the opposition net to equalise and ensure his side didn’t lose ground early in the race for World Cup qualification.
The game looked destined to end goalless after an uneventful 90 minutes - but reached its crescendo in mind-blowing fashion to leave both sets of fans stunned come the final whistle.
Relive all the action and reaction from tonight’s match with our live blog below:
Craig Bellamy's unbeaten run lives on.
Craig Bellamy was mere seconds away from tasting defeat for the first time as Wales manager tonight - but alas, he is still without an “L” next to his name.
Ben Davies never once questioned Wales's never-say-die spirit
"It's a bit of a rollercoaster,” Ben Davies told BBC Sport. “We felt like we were the only team in that game pushing to win it through most of the game.
"It was a crazy finish. We have to be happy to take away a point but overall if you look at how the game went, we've got to be disappointed not to take all three.
"I'm very proud of this team, it's an honour to captain it. It was never in doubt that we were going to give it our all until the last minute.
“It's the bare minimum we expect from this group that we're going to fight for everything and everyone's going to give their best. Tonight is just another example of that.
"There is definitely stuff to improve on but we will kick on from here."
Wales got nothing less than they deserved, says David Brooks
"Obviously it was a very tough game, you know when you come away to a place like this it's always going to be a challenge,” Brooks told BBC Sport post-match.
"It was one little mistake from a very good player (Joe Allen), he's been one of our best players ever, so the boys wanted to get him out of trouble and help the campaign and thankfully it was me today.
"The performance from the lads before I came on was absolutely fantastic, we probably deserved more from the game, but we'll take a point from where we were with a minute to go.
"We're a good group with a lot of quality and I think we showed that today. It would've been very unjust if they'd walked away with three points, so we're going to have to dust ourselves off and take the point.”
Report: David Brooks snatches last-gasp point for Wales in World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia
David Brooks salvaged Wales a precious 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw against North Macedonia with all but the last kick of the match in Skopje.
Wales were the better side throughout but they suffered a sucker punch in a dramatic finish that saw North Macedonia score in the first minute of stoppage time.
Substitute Joe Allen’s horrible back pass was intended for Joe Rodon but was cut out by Bojan Miovski and he finished brilliantly, slotting the ball under Karl Darlow.
Wales seemed down and out but in the sixth extra minute Kieffer Moore got his head to a long ball and Brooks squeezed the ball across the line.
Read the full match report below:
Brooks snatches last-gasp point for Wales against North Macedonia
FULL-TIME! North Macedonia 1-1 Wales
What. Drama.
Two stoppage time goals sees it finish honours even between Wales and North Macedonia.
The hosts thought they’d won it as Bojan Miovski capitalised on a defensive error to slot home.
But with the final kick of the game, David Brooks poked into the opposition net to equalise and spare Craig Bellamy a first defeat as Wales manager.
GOAL! North Macedonia 1-1 Wales
90+6 mins: GOAL! BROOKS EQUALISES AND SPARES BELLAMY A FIRST DEFEAT!
It’s a scrappy goal, but Wales will not care. Brooks diverts it into the goal and Craig Bellamy’s Wales are still unbeaten.
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