China 0-6 Wales: record-breaking Gareth Bale hits hat-trick as Ryan Giggs wins in first game
Gareth Bale scored a hat-trick as Wales secured a 6-0 victory over China in Ryan Giggs' first game in charge.
Bale's third meant that he moved onto 29 goals for his country, surpassing Ian Rush's 28 to become Wales' all-time top goalscorer.
It was a comfortable afternoon for the Dragons, with the opposition posing little threat throughout the 90 minutes.
Real Madrid star Bale opened the scoring with just two minutes played when he scored from close range after driving into the box.
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He would strike again with 20 minutes on the clock after linking up with Sam Vokes.
Vokes got himself onto the scoresheet 15 minutes later when his shot rollled past Junling Yan in the China goal.
Gareth Bale to sign for before September 3rd 2018 (odds via Sky Bet)
- Manchester United - 15/8
- Tottenham - 7/2
- Manchester City - 18/1
- To stay at Real Madrid - 4/5
- To leave Real Madrid - 10/11
Harry Wilson's effort just before the break put Giggs' men in firm control at half-time.
The goal-scoring would continue on the hour mark when Vokes netted again before Bale scored his hat-trick, and record-breaking goal, just moments later.
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China's biggest chance came with just under 15 minutes remaining. Hanchao Yu's curling effort from the edge of the area was tipped onto the post by Wayne Hennessey at full-stretch.
Wales will be back in action on Monday when they face either Uruguay or Czech Republic in the China Cup final.
Opta stats
- This is Wales’ biggest margin of victory since August 1996 when beating San Marino by the same scoreline (6-0).
- Wales’ 6-0 win is the biggest win for any Wales manager on their debut and Giggs is just the fifth different manager to win by such a margin (Committee, Mike Smith, Terry Yorath and Bobby Gould).
- Ryan Giggs is just the second manager to win on his debut for Wales amongst the last nine managers (inc. caretakers) alongside Bobby Gould (doesn’t include second stints for managers).
- This loss was Marcello Lippi’s biggest margin of defeat as an international manager (0-6).
- Wales have scored as many goals in 2018 as they did in the whole of 2017 (six goals, eight games).
- Gareth Bale has now scored the first goal under three of the last four managers of the Welsh national team (Brian Flynn, Chris Coleman and Ryan Giggs).
- Gareth Bale is now the top scorer for the Welsh national team with 29 goals, breaking the record of 28 goals previously held by Ian Rush.
- Bale's hat-trick was his first at international level, making him the first player to bag a treble for Wales since Robert Earnshaw vs Scotland in 2004.
- Sam Vokes was directly involved in four goals against China (two goals, two assists); as many as in his previous 31 games for Wales.