GOING UP IN THE WORLD

Vilnius victory keeps Gord’s Bravehearts in hunt to make last dash for Russia finals

LITHUANIA 0................................................ SCOTLAND 3

YESTERDAY saw the start of three days of traditional celebrations in Vilnius to mark the local students returning to university for the new academic year.

There was nothing for the Lithuanian football supporters to rejoice about last night, however, as their team was taught a football lesson by opponents with ambitions, and still an outside chance, of graduating to play on a greater stage.

Scotland are far from assured second spot in a Group F and that Russia 2018 play-off place they so covet after this emphatic and impressive 3-0 victory, secured thanks to goals from Stuart Armstrong and Andy Robertson in the first half and a James McArthur strike in the second, in the LFF Stadium last night.

Yet their prospects are certainly healthier than they were three games ago. There was much in this performance to be encouraged about going into the meetings with Malta on at Hampden on Monday evening and then Slovakia at home and Slovenia away next month.

It was far from perfect. Some of the passing was sloppy and would have been punished by superior opposition. The home side’s finishing was also woeful. Still, the margin of victory should have been far greater.

Nobody should get carried away with a win over a nation where football is a less popular sport than basketball and who have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament.

There remains room for improvement and greater challenges lie ahead. But away wins in qualifiers are rare and this should be savoured accordingly.

Slovakia overcoming Slovenia 1-0 in Trnava was far from ideal. They remain four points in front with three games left.

But they take on England at Wembley next week – a game it is unlikely they will win – and Scotland have a home game against them to come. Anything can still happen.

Once again, Gordon Strachan selected all six of the Celtic players, Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown, James Forrest, Armstrong and Leigh Griffiths, who he had named in his squad.

On the last occasion he picked that sextet in his starting lineup – in the qualifier against Slovenia at Hampden back in March the national team acquitted themselves superbly and recorded a 1-0 win.

Strachan chan was hopeful they would take the winning mentality they have developed in the past season or so playing for their club side to the national team and he was proved correct. All of them contributed hugely. Brown partnered McArthur, who was excellent after coming on at half-time against England in June, n central midfield and Arms strong was stationed further forward just behind lone striker Griffiths in a 4-2-3-1 for formation. Edgaras Jankauskas’s team had earned a richly-served 1-1 draw when they last faced Strachan’s

side at Hampden back in October. Indeed, they had been unfortunate to draw that evening. They were only denied victory by a late McArthur equaliser with a minute remaining.

HOW then would Scotland fare taking on rivals who had, despite being 41 places below them in the FIFA world ranking list, given such a tough game on an artificial surface?

The answer soon became clear. The pitch had, at the insistence of Strachan and his opposite number Jankauskas, been heavily watered before kick off.

McArthur slipped early on and gave away possession with careless passes twice during fraught opening exchanges. The second of those nearly gifted the home team the opening goal. He was highly fortunate that Arvydas Novikovas hooked his shot wide.

Matt Phillips has been playing consistently well in the top flight down south with West Brom for some time now and deserved his chance. He was decent. His confident individual showing suggested he will feature more regularly going forward.

Robertson and Phillips combined well down the left flank and posed problems with their pace and directness while Lithuania had little answer to the powerful runs of Forrest on the other side of the park. Griffiths, Armstrong and Phillips all went close in the early stages.

Griffiths supplied the ball which finally put his team in front. He floated a corner into the penalty box in the 25th minute and Armstrong timed his run to perfection. His angled downward header sailed past Ernestas Setkus and into the net.

It was the midfielder’s first Scotland goal in just his third appearance. What a difference he has made to this side. He looked capable of creating a chance or scoring himself every time he got on the ball in the final third. His contribution was again remarkable.

Robertson, Phillips and Forrest combined to set up the second five minutes later. The former rounded off a neat passing interchange by controlling the ball with his right foot and curling a left foot shot over Setkus.

It capped what has been a fairly momentous spell in the defender’s life. He has moved to Liverpool and become a father for the first time in recent weeks.

Robertson became the first Anfield player to score for Scotland since Kenny Dalglish scored that famous goal in a World Cup qualifier against Spain at Hampden back in 1984. It is unlikely to be his last on the evidence of this outing.

Forrest tired as the game wore on. He was replaced by Matt Ritchie in the 65th minute. The substitute set up the third goal seven minutes after coming on by winning a throw in and then taking it quickly. Griffiths squared to McArthur and his team-mate dinked it into the roof of the net.

Chris Martin took over from Griffiths, who had provided assists for the first and third goals, with 10 minutes remaining while Armstrong made way for John McGinn with five minutes to go. They saw out a fine win.

Now for Malta.