Scotland still in World Cup hunt after victory over Slovakia

 

MARTIN SKRTEL’S late own goal kept Scotland’s World Cup dreams alive after 10-man Slovakia threatened to frustrate the hosts at Hampden.

Leigh Griffiths and substitute Chris Martin both hit the bar as Scotland piled on pressure against the visitors, who had Robert Mak sent off midway through the first half after being booked for a penalty-box dive.

Visiting goalkeeper Martin Dubravka pulled off a string of great saves, but was finally beaten in the 88th minute when Skrtel turned Ikechi Anya’s low cross home under pressure from Martin as Scotland won 1-0 to move second in Group F.

.@ScottishFA go second in Group F with a dramatic late win… Will they make it to Russia? pic.twitter.com/voqa5PrJky

— European Qualifiers (@EuroQualifiers) October 5, 2017

 

What they said

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan said: “At no time did I feel really stressful down there. I felt part of it down there and I could see that they had everything under control, it wasn’t a problem for me, apart from a couple of misplaced passes and counter attacks. But being close to them I could see they were really in control of the game, they had a real belief in what they were trying to do. We have been building up to a performance like that and the players deserved a result like that.”

Asked about Mak’s red card, Slovakia boss Jan Kozak said: “There has been too many coincidences since I landed in Scotland and I am too old to believe in coincidences. I will keep it to myself.”

Tweet of the match

Magnificent Scotland. Our luck finally turns.

— Alex Salmond (@AlexSalmond) October 5, 2017

 

Star man – Dubravka

74' | Griffiths hits a fantastic free kick but it smacks the crossbar. Morrison then produces a wonder save from the Slovakian goalie. [0-0]

— Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) October 5, 2017

Dubravka almost wrote himself into Scottish football folklore as the nemesis of another World Cup campaign. The Sparta Prague goalkeeper threw himself to parry Christophe Berra’s header in a save reminiscent of Gordon Banks’ stop from Pele in 1970 and continued to frustrate the hosts. He produced two excellent stops from Griffiths and a point-blank range stop from James Morrison. He got some luck when Martin and Griffiths struck the bar and he proved unbeatable to Scotland players. Thankfully for the hosts he could not keep out an attempted clearance from his own skipper Skrtel.

Ref watch

There might have been no need for the late drama if Serbian official Milorad Mazic had given a ninth-minute spot-kick when Mak body-checked Kieran Tierney inside the box. It looked a clear spot-kick, but the referee waved play on. Mak was off 14 minutes later after a very late challenge on James Forrest and clear dive in the Scotland box and the 10 men eventually folded.

Comeback kings

Here's how the Group F Table looks with one match left to play. We head to Slovenia on Sunday. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/StwArxBM2Z

— Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) October 5, 2017

Scotland have now taken 13 points from a possible 15 to put themselves in second place in Group F with a game to go. They still have a difficult task in Slovenia, but their late goal after a night of near misses might just well give them the springboard to shed their unwanted tag of glorious failures.

Player ratings

FULL TIME | Scotland 1-0 Slovakia. A late Chris Martin seals the three points for Scotland! Thank you for your incredible support. Get in! pic.twitter.com/aiYZB4r2dN

— Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) October 5, 2017

Scotland: Craig Gordon 6, Kieran Tierney 6, Andy Robertson 9, Christophe Berra 6, Charlie Mulgrew 7, Darren Fletcher 8, James Morrison 6, Barry Bannan 6, James Forrest 6, Matt Phillips 5, Leigh Griffiths 8. Substitutes: Chris Martin (on for Forrest, 60) 7, James McArthur (on for Fletcher 79) 6, Ikechi Anya (on for Tierney, 82) 6.

Up next

? #SCOSVK pic.twitter.com/LhTepLH4l1

— Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) October 5, 2017

 

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