THAT WILL DO FOR STARTERS
WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Armstrong, Robertson and McArthur keep the Scots in play-off frame, but job is far from over
WHERE was this Scotland performance when they needed it most? On a balmy night in Vilnius, Gordon Strachan’s team maintained hopes of qualification for a World Cup play-off. Time will tell if it’s too little, too late.
Goals from Stuart Armstrong, Andrew Robertson and James McArthur made this an unusually comfortable night against opponents who have proved troublesome in the recent past.
News of a late Slovakia goal against Slovenia, however, was less welcome.
England’s 4-0 win over Malta was expected, but a late strike from Adam Nemec maintained the four-point advantage the Slovakians hold over the Scots and, with three games left, Strachan’s revitalised team still need snookers.
An England win over the Slovaks at Wembley on Monday would help. Another Scotland display like this against Malta on the same evening would maintain some semblance of pressure. Where there’s life, there’s hope.
What a difference a year makes. This was a much-changed Scotland team from the side which scraped a scruffy draw against the same opponents at Hampden last October.
Robertson was the only survivor from that night and underlined his growing status in the national team with a wonderfullycomposed second goal in the 30th minute.
He wasn’t the only one. It seems incredible now to think there wasn’t a single Celtic player in the starting XI in Glasgow. Leigh Griffiths and James Forrest had been late subs. Kieran Tierney and Craig Gordon were left on the bench. Scott Brown was still retired and Armstrong was slowly rebuilding his Celtic career.
Buoyed by their club’s second successive qualification for the Champions League, fielding all six of them here was a no-brainer.
Tribal loyalties run deep in Scottish football. But there could be no griping with the decision after the opening goal — Armstrong’s first for his country from a Griffiths assist in the 25th minute. It was the catalyst for a more comfortable night than anyone thought likely
No one could say it was undeserved. Far from it.
In contrast with the dire 1-1 draw in Glasgow — substitute McArthur salvaging a point with a late header — Scotland had an urgency and tempo to their game. It’s easy enough to say this was a match they always should win. But in four visits to Lithuania, the national team had only won once.
To their credit, they blew the home nation away in the first half. It was two going on four.
Griffiths was inches away with a thudding left-foot strike in the seventh minute. Matt Phillips — earning a rare start — came to within inches of thumping the visitors into the lead with a rising shot. Griffiths then curled a 30-yard free-kick just wide of the upright. From the first shrill of the Spanish referee’s whistle, Scotland were up for this.
Despite a week of dreary discussion concerning the artificial pitch at the LFF Stadium, Strachan’s side looked comfortable.
More so when Armstrong planted a header from Griffiths’ corner to give Scotland the goal their play deserved.
Five minutes later, it got even better, Robertson claiming his second Scotland goal with a quite outstanding effort.
It stemmed from more direct play on the left flank from Phillips. Nights like this make you wonder why the West Brom player was earning only his fifth cap after years of skirting around the fringes. A regular starter in the Premier League, it’s clear what he brings to the table.
His swift break picked out Forrest, drifting across the pitch from his usual right-sided beat. Rolling the ball five yards to Robertson, the new £10million Liverpool left-back came up with a chipped, dinked finish from the edge of the area which put Scotland 2-0 ahead. It capped a remarkable, memorable few weeks for the Glaswegian, who became a father last week.
Scotland’s Achilles heel is no secret. In central defence Charlie Mulgrew — currently playing in England’s third tier with Blackburn — partnered Hearts captain Christophe Berra. Far from a regular pairing, they had fleeting moments of anxiety. Primarily after McArthur gifted former Tynecastle attacker Arvydas Novikovas the ball in the Scotland half.
Dragging his final shot wide, the No 11 threatened again with a driven 30-yard free kick tipped over the bar by Gordon.
But Scotland made it to half-time. And, whisper it, they looked perfectly comfortable.
The second half called for the composure Brendan Rodgers has drilled into the Celtic players in the national team.
A third goal would do no harm either. And it very nearly came in the 52nd minute after more over-lapping full-back play on the left from the excellent Robertson.
A probing, curling cross to the back post picked out Griffiths for a volley blazed high and wide.
Novikovas — comfortably the most dangerous player in yellow — then got the run on Tierney, thumping a driven cross into the area. The ball took an unkind ricochet off Berra and fell for Hibs attacker Vykintas Slivka 12 yards from goal. The 2,000 Scotland fans banked behind the goal fell temporarily silent as his bouncing half volley missed the target.
For the first time in the match, the hosts had lots of possession. But they did nothing with it.
A third Scotland goal would lift the tension. And Armstrong almost claimed it when he forced a save from Ernestas Setkus.
It barely mattered. As in Glasgow, McArthur scored a critical goal with 17 minutes to play.
It was a marvellously simple affair. Matt Ritchie, on as a substitute for Forrest in the 65th minute, took a quick throw-in to the unmarked Griffiths, the striker rolling the ball across the face of goal for McArthur to make it 3-0 at the back post.
Game over. Job done. There’s work to do; Slovakia and Slovenia will provide sterner tests than this. The hope is that Malta on Monday won’t.