If Scotland make it to the promised land of next summer’s World Cup, they will glance back at this as a crucial evening. There must also be laughter to accompany reflection.
No sane observer could claim Steve Clarke’s team deserved to prevail here. Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes sealed the win. Dick Turpin sprang to mind. Someone, somewhere appears to be smiling on Scotland’s bid to play in a World Cup for the first time since 1998. The Scots, who had just 31% possession, are now in an excellent position in Group C. A playoff spot could be secured on Sunday evening, when Belarus visit Glasgow. Greece, who next travel to Denmark, need snookers.
“Football is a 90-minute game and you have to make sure you come out of it with a positive result,” said Clarke. “Maybe 3-1 flatters us but we did enough to win the game. It is a big win for us. Results are the only thing that qualify you for a tournament.”
Assessment of this Scotland team is not particularly easy. This game actually summed that up. Euphoria swept the country as Clarke led his men to the last European Championship. Epic disappointment was not only the theme in Germany but again as the Scots returned for Nations League action. Scotland rallied impressively in that group before comprehensive defeat by Greece in a playoff. Four points out of a possible six when Scotland began their World Cup campaign represented fine return and enhanced the mood around the national side once again. Greece’s performance in swaggering to a 3-0 win in Glasgow in March meant Scotland should have been forewarned and forearmed.
Greece handed Scotland a boost by leaving Konstantinos Karetsas on the bench, with the outstanding attacker recovering from illness. The visitors should, though, have been ahead inside eight minutes. Tasos Bakasetas played a delightful ball across the face of goal, with Vangelis Pavlidis inexplicably failing to tap home.
Greece tormented their hosts in wide areas during the opening exchanges. Although that brought no tangible reward, the atmosphere was noticeably flat for that first half hour. Scotland offered no threat whatsoever, a scenario due largely to the intensity of the Greek press. “We had to dig in,” said Clarke.
The manager resisted what must have been a strong temptation to implement change during the break. Ben Gannon-Doak, brought into the team to supply ammunition from the left side, had been peripheral. Scotland’s first-half XG was 0.06. In fairness to the manager, his bench was not rich in game-altering talent.
Within 90 seconds of the restart, Pavlidis had another opportunity; this time he headed over from eight yards. Hampden moaned and groaned. The frustration turned to audible anger as Giorgos Masouras shanked Greece’s next chance over the crossbar. Scotland, a team seeking to create history, still had not had a meaningful attempt at goal.
Scotland’s first change was an enforced one. Aaron Hickey, who has endured a horrible time with injury, pulled up. The Brentford full-back could last no longer than the 58th minute. As Anthony Ralston replaced Hickey, Clarke also took the opportunity to introduce Billy Gilmour for Gannon-Doak. The switch was not met positively in the stands, with Gannon-Doak not amused either. Gilmour’s arrival with a view to earning at least a modicum of midfield control was perfectly sensible.
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A change in personnel failed to have the immediate impact Clarke had craved as Greece took the lead they merited. Neat interplay between Christos Tzolis and Bakasetas preceded a Pavlidis shot that was blocked by John Souttar. Kostas Tsimikas pounced on the rebound to find the back of Angus Gunn’s net. Now, Scotland were under serious pressure.
Their response was barely in keeping with anything that came before. Greece failed to deal with a corner, with Grant Hanley’s header back into the penalty area only half cleared by Ntinos Mavropanos. This time it was Ryan Christie who collected a loose ball to restore parity. Scotland survived a lengthy check by the video assistant referee for offside.
Che Adams latched on to Gilmour free-kick but fluffed his lines. With 15 minutes to play, this was an end-to-end contest. Ferguson fired high into the net after Greece made a mess of dealing with an inswinging Andy Robertson free-kick. This was Ferguson’s first international goal. Equally significant was Gunn producing an outstanding save to deny Karetsas. Dykes added gloss after an all-time howler from Kostas Tzolakis in the Greece goal. Scottish celebration contrasted with understandably bemused Greek faces. What a weird old night.
