They left Moscow with no real reward, but this was far from a pointless evening for Wales. John Toshack's team finally succumbed to superior opponents, but showed skill and resilience in the second half and they were within nine minutes of a shock result against the Euro 2008 semi-finalists.

Toshack must ensure that the level is maintained in Wales's next two group four matches, at home to Liechtenstein and away to Germany next month. The idea of a draw in Mönchengladbach no longer seems fanciful, although in the immediate aftermath of yesterday's defeat it was hard for the Wales manager to take the positives.

“In the second half we were the better side, so to lose the way we did after fighting back to square the game is bitterly disappointing,” Toshack said. “I was disappointed for my team. They worked very, very hard and I am satisfied with the performance generally.”

Gareth Bale was brought down by Sergei Semak in the seventeenth minute, but the teenager's tremulous spot kick was saved by Igor Akinfeev.

Carl Robinson tripped Konstantin Zyryanov five minutes later and Roman Pavlyuchenko, Bale's Tottenham Hotspur club-mate, calmly gave Russia the advantage with the penalty. In the 67th minute, Bale burst down the right wing and crossed for Joe Ledley to tap in a deserved equaliser.

Predictably, this jerked Russia out of their complacency. In the 81st minute, Andrei Arshavin sand-wedged a cross for Zyryanov, whose header was well saved by Wayne Hennessey. But Pavel Pogrebnyak lashed in the loose ball, leaving Wales to seek solace in intangibles.

Russia (4-3-2-1): I Akinfeev - A Anyukov, D Kolodin, S Ignashevich, Y Zhirkov - K Zyryanov, D Torbinsky (sub: I Saenko, 60min), I Semshov - S Semak (sub: P Pogrebnyak, 74), A Arshavin - R Pavlyuchenko (sub: V Bystrov, 90). Substitutes not used: V Malafeev, V Berezutsky, A Berezutsky, R Yanbaev.
Wales (4-5-1): W Hennessey - C Gunter, C Morgan, A Williams, G Bale - S Davies, C Fletcher, CRobinson (sub: S Ricketts, 46), D Edwards (sub: SEvans, 77), J Ledley - S Vokes (sub: C Evans, 62). Substitutes not used: B Myhill, B Stock, D Cotterill, R Earnshaw. Booked: Fletcher, Williams, Robinson, Edwards.
Referee: D Skomina (Slovenia).

Group four

P W D L F A Pts

Germany 2 1 1 0 9 3 4

Russia 1 1 0 0 2 1 3

Wales 2 1 0 1 2 2 3

Azerbaijan2 0 1 1 0 1 1

Liechtenstein 2 0 1 1 0 6 1

Finland 1 0 1 0 3 3 1