Mcginn stunner rescues point for Scots
Scotland 2
Hanley 71, Mcginn 85
Austria 2
Kalajdzic 55, 80
John Mcginn admitted to a sense of relief after his superb overhead kick rescued a draw for Scotland in their opening World Cup qualifier.
The Aston Villa midfielder was grateful not to be ruled offside and also that he had not injured himself in the process as he acrobatically scored five minutes from time.
Steve Clarke’s side twice came from behind after the predatory Sasa Kalajdzic had netted the opener for Austria from a rebound early in the second half and added his second with an impressive late header. Grant Hanley, the Norwich City defender, had headed Scotland’s first equaliser.
Mcginn said he had expected to see the flag raised for offside and, when asked to describe his emotions, said: “Relieved. Relieved I have not broken my neck. I thought I was offside. Var has got a lot of negatives but the positive is that you are trained to just put it in the back of the net and deal with it after.”
David Marshall had overcome a back injury to play in goal behind a back three of Jack Hendry, Hanley and Kieran Tierney. In attack, Lyndon Dykes started ahead of Che Adams, who was on the bench.
Austria, meanwhile, came into the game on a fine streak of form, with only two defeats in 16 fixtures and four successive away wins. Certainly, they looked the more comfortable side in the opening half-hour. They might have been ahead almost immediately when Kalajdzic shot narrowly wide, after Christophe Baumgartner clearly used an arm to control the ball.
Marshall had to intervene twice to keep Scotland level, first when Kalajdzic turned provider for Baumgartner to drill a shot on target, then
when he clutched an effort from David Alaba. By degrees, Clarke’s players achieved a toehold, although it was typical of their performance that, when they won their first corner in the 37th minute, Andrew Robertson put the ball out of play almost at the opposite flag.
It took an extraordinary lapse of concentration by Alexander Schlager to give the Scots their best chance of the first half as the goalkeeper misplaced a simple pass out from his line. The ball went straight to Dykes and he touched it into the path of Ryan Christie, whose shot was retrieved by the keeper.
Austria were more predatory 10 minutes after the interval when Florian Grillitsch struck a powerful
effort from distance that Marshall blocked, but the rebound fell to the unmarked Kalajdzic and he finished tidily. The Scots looked stunned but were within a few inches of an
equaliser when Stuart Armstrong’s low shot went wide.
With 19 minutes remaining, Scotland drew level from a free-kick delivered from deep by Stephen O’donnell that led to Hanley peeling
into space inside the box to place a strong header beyond Schlager.
Parity did not last long, as Kalajdzic rose to meet a cross with a header inside the near post, but Mcginn ensured Scotland earned a point with his spectacular overhead kick. Clarke said: “I thought John was offside, but it was a good decision from the assistant referee.”
Scotland (3-5-2) Marshall; Hendry, Hanley, Tierney; O’donnell, Mcginn, Mctominay, Armstrong (Adams 66), Robertson; Christie (Mclean 88), Dykes (Mcgregor 78).
Subs Gordon (g), Mclaughlin (g), Gallagher, Palmer, Mckenna, Fleck, Nisbet, Mcburnie, Fraser. Booked Hanley, Christie, Dykes, O’donnell.
Austria (4-4-2) Schlager; Lainer, Dragovic, Lienhart, Alaba; Baumgartner, Grillitsch, Ilsanker, Schlager; Grbic (Schaub 68), Kalajdzic. Subs Pervan (g), Lindner (g), Ulmer, Trauner, Gregoritsch, Friedl, Trimmel, Sabitzer, Onisiwo, Schopf, Ranftl. Booked Kalajdzic, Grillitsch, Ilsanker.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain).