Bale enables Wales to sign off with double

The Tottenham winger struck the decisive blow in the dying embers of the opening half, receiving the ball from Adam Matthews to cut in from the right and send a deflected shot beyond Nikolay Mihaylov in the Bulgaria goal.

Bale also lashed a thunderous first-time volley against the bar after linking superbly with captain Aaron Ramsey.

The duo and Swansea midfielder Joe Allen were again the outstanding performers for Gary Speed’s side, who are almost unrecognisable from the squad that began this group with four straight defeats.

The game was played in a surreal atmosphere as only small pockets of Bulgaria fans populated the Vasil Levski Stadium following a poor run that now extends to seven games without a win.

Ivelin Popov wasted their best chances as Wales controlled the majority of the contest.

Speed had been able to name an unchanged side from the 2-0 win over Switzerland, making it the first time Wales had fielded the same XI since their Euro 2004 play-off fixtures against Russia.

Bulgaria caretaker boss Mihail Madanski, by contrast, had made six changes from their friendly defeat to Ukraine.

Speed was forced into a defensive reshuffle after 41 minutes as he lost Darcy Blake to a calf injury, with Celtic’s Matthews coming on as his replacement and Chris Gunter moving to centre-half.

But Wales made light of that blow as Bale was found by the substitute before cutting in onto his left foot and shooting low into the net with the aid of a deflection.