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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ryan Jewell

Portugal Women 1-1 Wales: Rachel Rowe stunner lights up friendly clash for impressive visitors as Sophie Ingle sees red

Rachel Rowe's second-half stunner saw Wales come back from a goal down to draw 1-1 against Portugal at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques stadium.

Gemma Grainger’s side had gone behind just after the break thanks to a curling effort from Telma Encarnacao, but levelled through Rowe’s superb volley.

Wales were forced to see out the final moments of the game with ten players after Sophie Ingle received a second yellow, but held on to claim another impressive result.

Grainger stuck with the same side who beat Northern Ireland 4-1 on Thursday, with the likes of Ingle, Jess Fishlock, and Rowe all keeping their spot.

The visitors started the brighter of the two sides, dominating the opening exchanges, but had to wait until the 17th minute to record an attempt on goal when Rhiannon Roberts' effort from distance blazed over the bar.

It was then the home side’s turn to dominate proceedings, starting with an effort from 30 yards out by Ana Rute, which smashed against the crossbar, before Catarina Amado latched onto the rebounded effort from six yards out, but her tame shot was easily collected by Olivia Clark.

However, the biggest scare for Wales came in the 22nd minute when a ball over the top from Patricia Morais in the Portuguese goal found Telma Encarnacao, who would have been clear through on goal if not for a superb last ditch tackle by Gemma Evans.

The hosts were forced to make an early substitution when Lucia Alves was forced off due to an apparent eye injury after being innocently clipped in the face by Roberts.

But despite the forced change, the hosts continued to dominate with an effort from Carolina Memdes from the left hand side of the box forcing Clark into action.

Portugal would eventually open the scoring in the 50th minute when Encarnacao, on the left-hand side and just outside the box, saw her shot curl into the bottom right-hand corner.

Despite going behind, Wales kept on the search for an equaliser, with a long range shot from Fishlock in the 68th minute forcing Morais into action before a moment of brilliance from Rowe restored parity in the 73rd minute.

Connecting with a clearance following a Wales corner, Rowe, on the edge of the box, superbly volleyed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.

However, Wales were fortunate to not lose a player straight after when a moment of miscommunication between Clarke and Evans saw the latter bring down Jessica Silva who appeared through on goal, but the referee waved it away.

Wales would then be forced to see out the rest of the game with ten players after Ingle was sent off for picking up a second yellow card from a poor tackle on Fatima Pinto.

The visitors then survived a last-minute scare when Ana Dias' shot narrowly missed the inside left hand post, holding on for an impressive result against a side ranked 10 places above them in the current world rankings

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