SAME OLD STORY IN THE HOLY LAND
Fraser on mark as Scotland scrape draw in sixth meeting with Israel in three years
‘LONG time no see’ read the greeting for Scotland on the big screen when they arrived at the Bloomfield Stadium in a tongue in cheek reference to the frequency of the national team’s visits to Israel.
Scotland could say the same to the World Cup, in a far more literal sense.
The national side may have broken their duck when it comes to qualifying for a major tournament at long last, but the wait to make the biggest stage of all may well go on after a damaging draw against Israel in Tel Aviv.
Ryan Fraser’s second-half equaliser at least ensures we still have a dream of sorts, but the two points gained from Scotland’s opening two matches leaves them with a lot of work to do.
It could have been worse.
The damage was done in a lacklustre first half from the Scots in which the Israelis established a lead through a long-range Dor Peretz strike which David Marshall allowed to squirm into the net, a scant reward really for the amount of opportunities they created.
Still, a personnel shuffle from manager Steve
Clarke at the interval saw a much-improved Scotland side bring something home from Israel at the third time of asking.
Whether it is enough remains to be seen, with Denmark now already four points ahead and Austria two points clear of the Scots.
Clarke had made three changes to the side that drew with Austria at Hampden on Thursday night, with Callum McGregor, Fraser and Che Adams all coming in, the Southampton man leading the line alone on his first start for Scotland.
There was the novelty of playing in front of a crowd too, with 5000 locals and one or two Scots allowed inside the stadium for the game.
What a joy to hear genuine crowd noise, and even more so in the second half as the Israelis’ early exuberance descended into boos and whistles as the Scots belatedly joined the party.
This was the sixth time the nations had met in a little over two years, but the Scottish players started like they were not all that familiar with one another, never mind the hosts.
There were a couple of warning signs from Israel’s danger men early on, with Erhan Zahavi and Manor Solomon not making the most of presentable opportunities.
Scotland should have taken the lead though when Andy Robertson swung in a corner that Scott McTominay met, but the Manchester United headed a yard wide when he really had to hit the target.
The high press worked well for the Scots soon after as they won the ball on the edge of the Israeli area, allowing Fraser to dink a ball in for McTominay arriving at the near post, but the chance was more difficult on this occasion and he could be excused for volleying over.
Fraser then put a wonderfully inviting ball across goal that had no takers for the Scots, but the game was wide open and you sensed a goal was coming.
It almost came for the hosts as Solomon somehow ended up in acres of space in the Scotland box, but thankfully for Clarke’s men, he shot straight at Marshall.
It heralded a rocky spell for the visitors as
Israel took control of the game, and the Scots looked disjointed for much of the next 20 minutes.
The pressure culminated in another decent chance for the hosts, as their skipper, Bibars Natcho, found space all too easily down Scotland’s right to clip a ball on to the head of Shon Weissman, but again the effort was too close to Marshall.
On a positive note, Adams was leading the line well for Scotland, holding the ball up, finding passes and showing selflessness in his running. It would have been nice to see him being given a little service in the penalty area.
But just when it looked as though Scotland had weathered the storm, a long switch from Hatem Elhamed caught Scotland cold and the ball was worked to Peretz 25 yards from goal. He unleashed a rocket that found the top corner via the gloves of Marshall, who should have done better having got two hands to the ball.
Clarke reacted at the break, taking off Jack Hendry for Ryan Christie and switching
to a back four. It was bold, and the Scots were immediately getting joy by applying greater pressure on the ball when the Israelis were in possession.
There would be a tangible reward soon too. Christie won the ball on the right and sent Adams on his way, and the striker fed Fraser on the edge of the area. He checked his run, took a touch, and buried it low past Ofir Marciano.
Adams was causing problems, and a quick Scottish counter saw Fraser return the compliment to the Southampton man, who cut inside and brought a good save from Marciano, before Kieran Tierney did the same from range.
Scotland were served a reminder at the other end as a deep Eli Dasa cross was headed just wide by Sun
Menachem, before Moanes Dabbur made a surprise appearance from the bench for the hosts, while Kenny McLean and Lyndon
Dykes came on as Adams was given a deserved rest and John McGinn made way after a quiet night by his standards.
A draw was no good to anyone, and Tierney steamed forward from centre-back to get on the end of a lovely Callum McGregor pass to pull back for McTominay, but the midfielder’s strike lacked conviction and it was blocked clear.
Scotland pushed at the death with Christie passing up a couple of decent chances, but in the end, like the performance and the result, it was just not quite good enough.