PROLIFIC AND PRECIOUS
Forrest is thriving in right kind of system
IT took 25 caps for James Forrest to score his first international goal for Scotland. Now the Celtic winger is off the mark, he can’t stop.
The drought ended with two fine strikes in the 4-0 destruction of Albania on Saturday and here, when it mattered most, two clinical finishes in the final 11 minutes of the first half paved the way for a cherished hat-trick which secured Scotland’s first play-off qualification since 2003.
It took time for Alex McLeish to shoehorn the 27-year-old’s talents into a 4-3-3 formation.
The first Scotland hat-trick since a Robert Snodgrass treble against Malta in September 2016 also makes Forrest the first Scotland player since Denis Law in 1963 to net two or more goals in successive internationals. With 11 in 11 games for club and country, he is now becoming a precious and rare Scottish entity. A talented footballer who scores.
How vital the third goal proved as Israel peppered Scotland’s goal in a tense, nervous finale. Just as valuable as the clinical right foot of Forrest was the right glove of Allan McGregor, the Rangers goalkeeper denying substitute Tomer Hemed the 88th-minute equaliser which would have sent Israel through to the play-offs with an outstanding save.
Eran Zahavi’s fine strike after 75 minutes had dragged the score back to 3-2 and the night almost ended in a typically Scottish finale.
Yet, by the end, the fog of a convoluted Nations League format was beginning to clear. Results across League C mean a one-legged semi-final now beckons at Hampden in March 2020, most likely against Finland. Victory in that game would strip matters down to an all-or-nothing final, with the chance for Scotland to qualify for their first major finals since France 98 as one of 13 host nations.
It has proved quite the turnaround since the side were booed from the pitch by the Tartan Army after a dismal 2-1 defeat to Israel in Haifa last month.
‘I was down after the game in Haifa,’ McLeish admitted last night. ‘Criticism is fine, because it makes you want to do better. Sometimes, it can be over the top, but we bounced back and showed resilience.
‘There is more to come now. Now they have evidence of what they have done over the last two games. We showed Israel how we could really play.
‘It’s given us a massive feeling of power and self-satisfaction. We were written off and we’ve come through against adversity. That’s a great part of your character when you can do that.
‘But you don’t get a chance to rest on your laurels. You have to try to keep improving. The players should be looking to be stronger mentally after those kind of performances.’
The Scots now enter the second phase of qualifying as third seeds, buoyed by the security of a safety net. It all worked out fine in the end. Yet they were curiously slow off the mark here, paying a hefty price for a ponderous, hesitant start with the loss of a goal after nine minutes.
In five years at Celtic, Beram Kayal goals were a rarity. Yet the Israeli midfielder found his range wonderfully back on Scottish soil.
With a crowd of just over 21,000, Hampden was quiet enough already. The last thing the old place needed was Kayal thudding a quite stunning strike into the top corner from 25 yards as Callum McGregor offered his former Parkhead team-mate all the time and space he needed to add to the gloom of a November night in the west of Scotland.
There are moments in every game which feel like a turning point. The spark for the home revival came from Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong after 21 minutes, an incisive, direct piece of running lifting the Tartan Army
from their stupor. A blocked clearance fell to McGregor 30 yards from goal, his fine halfvolley forcing Ari Harush to push the ball round the post.
The home nation then turned the game on its head in the final stages of the half. A player in the best form of his career, Forrest was simply brimming with confidence.
Once again, Armstrong was the architect, showing a willingness to run at the Israeli defence after 34 minutes.
The former Celtic player’s fiery left-foot strike deflected off the back of Ryan Christie and the ball could have landed anywhere.
Crucially, it fell to the feet of a player who looks incapable of missing right now. Forrest took one touch and smashed his third Scotland goal in two games low into the bottom corner for 1-1. He wasn’t done there. A second goal before half-time was both impeccably timed and beautifully executed. It stemmed from humble beginnings, an Andrew Robertson long ball flicked on by the head of Steven Fletcher. A stand-out in Shkoder, Christie showed huge desire to run behind the spreadeagled Israeli defence and nick the ball into the path of Forrest.
Once again, his clubmate’s touch and finish was exemplary, picking the same spot to eke out an unlikely half-time lead for a Scotland side hellbent on reaching the promised land.
Scotland’s place in the play-offs looked as assured as any Scotland scenario can ever be after 64 minutes.
Taking a superb first touch from a low Ryan Fraser cutback after a surging run, the winger calmly despatched the ball into the net for 3-1 and a personal total of five goals in two games.
At that stage, Israel looked a beaten team. Yet even the surest of sure things is never entirely sure for Scotland.
A low fizzing shot past the far post by substitute Dia Saba suggested Israel would go down fighting. Within a minute, a nervous hush returned to Hampden’s sloping stands when Zahavi pulled a goal back, gathering the ball outside the area and making space for an expertly guided finish from 20 yards as Scott McKenna stood off.
For the Scots, the end to the game was seat-of-the-pants stuff.
Afterwards, Israeli journalists quizzed coach Andi Herzog on the naivety of his team, attacking from the off when they only needed a point to qualify.
But for McGregor’s critical save from Hemed, they’d have been carrying the Austrian legend from Hampden shoulder high.