Strachan impressed as Scots get valuable victory in Vilnius

GORDON Strachan hailed Scotland’s 3-0 win over Lithuania as the most impressive of his four-year reign.

The national team boss has found himself under pressure during a testing World Cup qualifying campaign, but his side responded in fine fashion as they grabbed a muchneeded victory in Vilnius to breathe new life into their hopes of reaching Russia.

The Scots dominated the Lithuanians from start to finish and got the points thanks to goals from Stuart Armstrong, Andy Robertson and James McArthur.

Strachan told the Sky Sports Football channel: “When I imagined how the game was going to go earlier this week I couldn’t see it being as good as that in terms of performance.

“I hoped and believed we would get a result, but to play as well as that was terrific. Other teams have come here (and struggled). Slovenia drew 2-2, Slovakia got a 2-1 - they very rarely get beat by a big margin. Even England had a problem trying to put them away.

“The individual performance from some of them were outstanding, so it was a good night.

“We have put up some great performances against Germany and Croatia, but in terms of pure football that was as good as it gets from my time. The guys were phenomenal.”

Celtic midfielder Armstrong scored his first goal in dark blue with a header from a Leigh Griffiths corner in the 25th minute, and new Liverpool signing Robertson curled in a glorious second five minutes later. McArthur made it 3-0 from close range.