Gareth Bale 'a special player' says Chris Coleman after stunning double

• Bale's late goals give Wales vital victory over Scotland
• 'He was different class – he's an absolute machine'

Stuart James at Cardiff City Stadium
The Guardian, Saturday 13 October 2012

Gareth Bale in action for Wales v Scotland
Gareth Bale in action. His two late goals gave Wales a 2-1 victory over Scotland in their World Cup qualifier. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

It was one of those nights when Gareth Bale decided to take hold of the game and rewrite the script on his own. Chris Coleman hailed the Tottenham Hotspur winger as "a special player" after he won and converted the penalty that hauled Wales level before scoring a wonderful second goal, in the 89th minute, to leave Scotland crestfallen.

Scotland departed nursing a sense of injustice, partly due to doubts about whether Bale was touched by Shaun Maloney but more because of the perfectly legitimate goal they had disallowed in the 74th minute, when Steven Fletcher's header, at a time when they were leading 1-0, was ruled out because the assistant referee wrongly adjudged Charlie Adam's cross to have drifted behind the goal before coming back in.

Thereafter, though, it was all about Bale as the Welshman, who was already the best player on the pitch by a distance, put Scotland to the sword.

"Gareth keeps on producing swashbuckling performances, he keeps on doing things not many other players are capable of doing," said Coleman, who admitted to feeling relieved after ending a run of four successive defeats with his first victory since taking over as Wales manager.

"I don't want to put extra pressure on him but we've seen him do it time and time again. He's either setting a goal up or banging one in from 30 yards. He's a special player, we all know that. And if you think he's 23, he's not even at his peak yet. He was different class tonight. He's an absolute machine. He's quite good in the air and his pace and power are magnificent. It wouldn't have mattered who he played against tonight, when he's on that form there's not a full-back that can handle him."

Bale, who has been in danger of picking up a reputation as someone who goes to ground too easily, insisted that Shaun Maloney made contact for the penalty, which Aaron Ramsey was happy for his team-mate to take despite the fact that the Arsenal midfielder normally has the responsibility from the spot.

"He [Maloney] took my leg," Bale said. "I couldn't stay on my feet so it was a penalty and fortunately I got up and put it away. I have missed a few but I fancied it and was confident and that's why I stepped up. [With the second] it was a bit of a surprise that it opened up in front of me. I drove into the space, nobody closed me down, I saw the shot and gave it a go. I think it can kick-start our campaign. Hopefully it will give us more confidence."

Coleman leapt to Bale's defence when asked about the issue of diving. "I've seen it, when you are running that fast, and Maloney comes just behind him, the least tap, when he's in the box, he's going down. Whether he wants to or not, I think, because he's going that fast.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't like to see anybody diving. The finger has been pointed at Gareth once or twice but I don't think he dived tonight. I thought he was running at great pace in the box. And watch the expression on Maloney's face because he knows there's been a little bit of contact. There's no reason for Gareth to go down because he's either going to square it or shoot, so I don't think there's a question of that tonight."

Although Scotland players protested at the time of the penalty, Craig Levein made little of the incident afterwards and was much more upset with Fletcher's disallowed goal.

"With 10 minutes to go, I just couldn't see us losing the match," said the Scotland manager, who now finds himself under increasing pressure. "Getting a second goal for us was always going to be crucial because a 1-0 lead can be fragile and so it proved tonight. That second goal was all so important to us and the fact that we didn't get it, and I believe the official's made a serious error with the chalked off goal that Steven Fletcher has scored, is very difficult to take."

Levein, who accepts that Scotland will now have to win in Belgium on Tuesday to revive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup, accepted that Bale was the difference between the two sides. "I felt the longer the game was at 1-0, he started to wander a little bit and take up different positions on the field. And that is a little bit more difficult to stop," he said. "He's a fantastic player and he did cause problems for us. I thought we contained him reasonably well but later in the game he became an issue for us."

That was an understatement.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer