Russian romp a 'special night' for Welsh football

Taylor doubled Wales’ lead in Toulouse after Aaron Ramsey’s opener before Gareth Bale’s third wrapped up a perfect performance from Chris Coleman’s men.

Wales topped Group B and now face a last-16 tie in Paris on Saturday evening and Taylor says the players don’t want to be heading home any time soon.

“It’s nice, you don’t often get games like that where it’s pretty comfortable for a good half hour,” said the Swansea City defender after the final whistle against a poor Russian side.

“We really enjoyed the game and the fans enjoyed it and it was a special moment.”

On his first international goal, Taylor said: “It was an unbelievable feeling and to get it in the Euros as well and in the last game of the group stage is very special.

“I did my best to miss it! But I scored on the second attempt and I think the second and third goals were killers for them – you could see the energy sap out.”

Taylor says the result and the performance makes up for last week’s last-gasp defeat to England, who finished in the group after drawing 0-0 with Slovakia.

“We were massively disappointed with how we played in the England game,” he added. “We defended well, we were dogged and we almost got a point from not playing very well.

“But we were disappointed that we didn’t show what we can really do. We didn’t behave like the team we know we are and I think we managed to do that today and do it well.”

Liverpool midfielder Allen produced another dazzling display and provided the assist for Ramsey’s crucial opener.

He could hardly contain his emotions after leaving the field in Toulouse.

“What a night! What a great night,” he said.

“We started off the game so well and, from start to finish, we thoroughly deserved the win.

“And to win in style like that is a special moment for Welsh football I think.

“We enjoyed every minute. That’s been the message from the start.

“We had the disappointment of the late goal against England but we made sure that it didn’t affect us and you could see how resilient the boys are.

“To bounce back with this kind of win and performance is what we’re all about.”

Wales now face a third-placed team on Saturday for the chance of progressing to the quarter-finals in France.

“I don’t know what our chances are,” said Allen. “It was all about getting through. We had these three games and we wanted to make sure we got ourselves through to the knockout rounds.

“Who knows? We look forward to see who we come up against and we’ll take it from there.”