Wales vs. Northern Ireland: Score and Twitter Reaction from Euro 2016

Wales booked their spot in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 with a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland on Saturday, as Gareth McAuley put the ball in his own net for the only goal of the match.

The two teams served up a dreadful match filled with errors, empty possessions and few chances, but McAuley turned home a cross with 15 minutes left to play to give Wales the lead.

Northern Ireland's late pressure didn't produce anything of note, and after four minutes of injury time, their tournament was over.

Euro 2016's official Twitter account shared the starting XI's ahead of the clash, as the Welsh kept forward Hal Robson-Kanu on the bench:

Wales predictably took control of the ball early, but play was sloppy in the opening minutes as both sides settled in. Ashley Williams took out Jamie Ward to give Northern Ireland a free-kick and set up the first chance, but a poor delivery took the pressure off Wales.

Northern Ireland's Stuart Dallas put goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to work with a curling volley on nine minutes, marking either team's first good look on goal, but the resulting corner didn't amount to anything.

On the other side of the pitch, Aaron Ramsey almost connected with a backheel, but the ball just missed his foot and harmlessly went out of play.

Meanwhile, BreatheSport had some fun at the expense of forward Will Grigg, who once again found himself on the Northern Ireland bench:

"

Live images of Northern Ireland's bench... #WALNIR pic.twitter.com/8nXByxhISo

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) June 25, 2016"

Per Oliver Kay of the Times, the Welsh supporters had an answer for their opponents' favourite song:

Wales struggled against Northern Ireland's physical defence, losing the vast majority of aerial battles, and when the ball finally fell their way and Sam Vokes found Ramsey with a strong header, the Arsenal's man perceived opener was chalked off for offside.

At the other end, Ward fired a powerful strike just over Hennessey's goal. Northern Ireland didn't show many attacking intentions early, but when they broke forward, they did so with numbers and threatened almost every time.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Defensively, they did a fantastic job isolating star forward Gareth Bale during the first 30 minutes, but as Wales increased pressure, the Real Madrid man became more involved.

The level of play remained poor, however, and Bleacher Report's Joe Tansey couldn't help himself:

Kyle Lafferty showed his value in the air, and Northern Ireland overpowered Wales, who barely mustered any chances in the latter parts of the half.

At half-time, fans and pundits alike had only one topic to highlight, and Football Italia was not enjoying proceedings:

The sloppy play continued early in the second half. Northern Ireland came out with a more positive mindset, pushing on with intent, but errors and frequent stoppages kept plaguing both sides.

A set-piece routine from the edge of the box gave manager Michael O'Neill's men their first chance of the second half on five minutes, though Williams and Co. defended their box rather easily. But the pressure mounted, and Wales struggled working the ball out of their own half.

PHILIPPE LOPEZ/Getty Images

Vokes came close to giving his side the lead after Ramsey found the striker with an excellent lofted ball, but his header missed Michael McGovern's goal by just a few inches.

On the other side of the pitch, Oliver Norwood threatened with a shot from distance that bounced just in front of Hennessey, but the stopper didn't let the effort take him by surprise.

Bale put McGovern to work with another one of his typical free-kicks as the contest opened up slightly, but viewers still weren't impressed. The preceding round-of-16 match between Poland and Switzerland had gone to extra time and penalties, and Tansey hoped this clash would end differently:

Both teams resorted to playing kick-and-rush—with limited success. The defences stood firm, blocking a handful of shots, but the attackers didn't make it hard on them.

The breakthrough finally came in the 75th minute, when Bale delivered a cross into the box from the left wing and McAuley turned the ball into his own net. Robson-Kanu was right on his back and likely would have converted the chance, so McAuley had no choice but to go for the ball.

Football writer Sid Lowe added a notable statistic:

Northern Ireland were forced to come forward in chase of an equaliser, but before they could build any momentum, play came to a halt as Williams crashed to the pitch following a clash with team-mate Jonathan Williams. The captain carried on, but his arm hung almost limp by his body.

The Wales defence stood firm, and Northern Ireland's spirit seemed to break as the match entered injury time. McGovern joined his team-mates inside the box for a final corner, but it was to no avail.

Post-Match Reaction

Bale took to Twitter to share this photo of Wales celebrating:

Wales will play the winner of the match between Belgium and Hungary in the quarter-finals. If the Red Devils make good on their role of favourites, Bale and his team-mates will have to improve drastically to keep their Euro 2016 bid alive.