SUBSTITUTES Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge rescued England and denied Wales a famous victory.
LEAVING IT LATE: Daniel Sturridge
Footballer of the Year Vardy came off the bench to equalise and in added time Sturridge struck to shatter Wales.
The Liverpool striker squeezed the ball home at the near post after cutting in from the left
It was a deserved win, despite a disappointing performance, and it took England to the top of their qualifying group.
Gareth Bale gave Wales the lead from a free kick, but England keeper Joe Hart should have done better.
That goal put Wales on course for their first win against England for 32 years, but Vardy and Sturridge prevented that from happening.
It was a day when England boss Roy Hodgson was forced to make changes after starting with an unchanged team.
But he did make one immediate switch. Centre forward Harry Kane, who controversially had been the corner-kick taker, was replaced in the role by skipper Wayne Rooney.
It was from open play, though, that England should have taken an early lead, only for Raheem Sterling to shoot over from seven yards, following an Adam Lallana cross.
England should have been awarded a penalty in the 32nd minute, when Ben Davies blatantly handled, but German referee Felix Brych and his assistants somehow missed it.
And England fell behind three minutes from half time, after Rooney had fouled Hal Robson-Kanu.
WIZARD: Bale's free kick opened the scoring
Bale's 30-yard free kick deceived Hart, who could only push the ball into the corner of the net.
Hodgson's reaction was to withdraw Kane and Sterling at half time and send on Vardy and Sturridge.
And it was Vardy who equalised in the 56th minute, turning to hook the ball home after a Sturridge cross had broken to him off Wales defender Ashley Williams.
England hero Sturridge said: "It's a great feeling. Unbelievable. I am grateful to the gaffer for the opportunity and God for allowing me to score. It is a brilliant feeling.
"It is only one more game in the group, so no-one wants to get too excited but the atmosphere is unbelievable and the togetherness between the two countries here is unbelievable.
"It is great to help the boys win the game, my brother and my cousin have travelled here to the game and it is great for them to experience this."
Skipper Wayne Roone said: "First half we did OK but have to move the ball quicker. The manager made some positive changes and it paid off for us. We kept the ball well and kept probing and got the goal in the end.
"We know as a group of players we are not just an 11-man team, we have a full squad here and it shows just what a good squad we have. It was a great feeling to win the game like we did, it will almost qualify us now and we have to win the game on Monday.
"It was a great win, but a fully deserved one."
CELEBRATION: England enjoy Sturridge's last strike
Roy Hodgson says his side deserved their late goal. He said: "It is amazing. We played so well against Russia and conceded in the 93rd minute and today we worked so hard in the second half and pushed and pushed and then scored in the 92nd minute, I suppose it shows things do even out but it is rare to see them even out in the space of two games.
"If I had been watching from afar and not been with England and watching Wales play some other opponent I would have felt very sorry for them but they will have to excuse me not feeling sorry for them because I want to be pleased with ourselves."
"We thought a lot about what the starting 11 should be but I didn't want to start breaking eggs with a big stick. I thought I would keep one or two up my sleeve.
"I was kind of counting on us seeing out the first half and then making a change but the goal meant it was pushed on to me a bit. I was always in our thoughts to bring on Vardy and Sturridge and then bring on Wilshere or Rashford when we were looking for a goal."
Wales boss Chris Coleman said: "A point for us would have fantastic. They are a very good team, very strong. Congratulatins to Roy, he made some good substitutions and we knew they would push us back. Most of the time we looked quite strong and although they had a lot of possession I wasn't that worried.
"The guys showed great heart. They stuck into the game and with 60 seconds remaining, to give up that point we worked so hard for, we are gutted but we have to move on. We are here to get through to the last 16. If you are from Wales, you always looked at this game because it is England but for me it is the middle game of three. We move on and have to show a reaction against Russia.
"When you are bringing on the likes of Vardy and Sturridge and Sterling and Kane are going off, they are top players. We knew that it would be tough, it was a good old fashioned derby. They had been on such a good run coming into this tournament, we knew they would be disappointed after a point against Russia and they would come on strong. It wasn't to be in the end."
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