One of the things everyone says about Gareth Bale is that, for him, the team is always king, so presumably he would have been unbothered at not scoring as Wales effortlessly routed Belarus on his 100th cap. Instead Bale, wearing a ginormous smile, applauded from the substitutes’ bench – he was withdrawn at half-time following his comeback from injury – as Ben Davies added a fourth goal, following an Aaron Ramsey double and a strike by Neco Williams. It was the perfect night for Wales, who swelled their goal difference when Connor Roberts found a fifth goal before Tuesday’s final Group E qualifier here against Belgium, when the race for the second spot will conclude, even if the Belarus substitute Artem Kontsevoi hit a consolation strike late on. For Bale, this was a landmark milestone on a journey that started in 2006 in Graz, where he claimed his first assist as a baby-faced full-back aged 16 and 315 days. A few months earlier Bale attracted the attention of Barcelona and Real Madrid scouts at an under-17 European Championship in Cyprus, later joining the latter from Tottenham for a then world-record fee of £85m in 2013. There have been countless special moments along the way, scoring against Belgium here on his 50th cap, free-kicks against England and Slovakia, and a first hat-trick for his country in China. Comical ones, too, such as when Andorran police officers escorting Wales to Barcelona airport following victory in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier – in which Bale scored both goals – in effect ambushed the team coach in order to get selfies with the forward. Bale was reluctant to bask in the achievement in the buildup to the game but the occasion was always going to be about him. A few young supporters held a “Diolch Bale” cardboard cutout. Before the game the Football Association of Wales presented him with a commemorative shirt with the congratulatory message “Longyfarchiadau 100”. His parents, Debbie and Frank, his wife, Emma, and their four children were also present in the stands. By his standards, he enjoyed a low-key first half but a couple of neat flicks drew gasps from the home crowd. This was, after all, his first appearance since September following a hamstring tear. A typically electric national anthem set the tone and Wales, seemingly supercharged, overwhelmed Belarus from kick-off. Sergei Chernik spilled a Ben Davies shot from the edge of the box and Ramsey was on hand to tap in the rebound inside two minutes. Even a VAR check could not dampen the mood amid a frenzied atmosphere. It was an ominous start for a Belarus side that had lost their previous 14 away qualifiers. They had also not scored since Wales’s comeback victory in September courtesy of Bale completing a stoppage-time hat-trick in Kazan. Any hopes of a similar retort vanished when the lively Williams beat Chernik at his near post on 20 minutes. Bale was beckoned to shoot by the Red Wall after driving forward from halfway but instead passed on the baton. Williams cut inside from the left flank and his tame right-foot shot squeezed past Chernik, who should have done better. The second half was only three minutes old when Wales earned a chance to put the game beyond doubt. It would have been a tailor-made opportunity for Bale to get in on the act and mark his milestone with a goal, only he was not on the pitch when Ruslan Yudenkov was penalised for handball inside the box. Robert Page, the Wales interim manager, had said they would manage Bale’s minutes and replaced him with Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson at the interval. In Bale’s absence, Ramsey – now given the captain’s armband – stepped up to coolly send Chernik the wrong way from the penalty spot. With Bale not on the field, the Wales support serenaded Danny Ward, the goalkeeper who must have struggled to keep his feet warm so little he had to do.In the dugout, Bale was effectively a fan again, jumping to his feet when he felt Wales should have been awarded a free-kick. He did not look especially sharp on his return to action and during the second half he appeared to mouth the words “a bit sore” to Ward’s understudy, Wayne Hennessey, a late substitute who, on 98 caps, is next line to reach a century. Hennessey arrived to a warm roar but this was Bale’s night.