Griffiths finds his range as Scotland get job done to keep the dream alive

● Second place still in own hands after Celtic striker sets up Berra then grabs second at Hampden

SCOTLAND

Berra 9, Griffiths 49

MALTA

2

Scotland maintained their winning ways with a routine but valuable victory over Malta.

For a worrying spell it was feared their qualification hopes might be undone by events elsewhere. Attention switched between here and London.

While it was surreal to hear England goals hailed they helped make it nearly a perfect night for Scotland, who as well as winning escaped picking up any costly bookings. Even skipper Scott Brown restrained himself after being spat on by Malta defender Steve Borg in the second half.

Only Slovenia’s 4-0 victory threatened to put a dampener on things. Scotland’s own win was not handsome enough to prevent Gordon Strachan’s side slipping down a place in the group to fourth – for the time being.

But Scotland are still halfway towards winning the four games in a row needed to secure second place after goals from Christophe Berra and Leigh Griffiths.

The focus is now trained on the first of two clashes against Slovakia and Slovenia next month. Hampden will certainly be a lot more raucous than it was last night.

Strachan resisted any temptation to change a winning team, with several players a booking away from a suspension. He argued that the job had to be done here first before they could even think about results elsewhere – specifically the one at Wembley.

Never before has a Hampden roar greeted an England goal. But it did here to greet Eric Dier’s equaliser and then Marcus Rashford’s winner after initial deflation when news filtered through that Slovakia had struck an early opener.

Scotland admirably stuck to their task. They did what they had to do, Berra opening the scoring in the ninth minute with a header and Griffiths notching his first international goal from open play four minutes after half time.

It was perhaps too much to expect a goalfest on top of a booking-less performance. The Scots rattled five past the same opposition a year ago to the day but had to be content with just two last night. This might yet become significant in the race for second place. The win also gave Scotland their first six-point haul from a double-header for a decade. Although the stadium was only half full the atmosphere was upbeat on account of Scotland’s seeming upswing in fortunes.

For the second time in as many Hampden outings Scotland profited from Griffiths’ execution from set pieces. It was also the second game in a row that his delivery from a corner kick helped set the Scots on their way.

The opener was an almost exact replica of the goal that put Strachan’s side one up against Lithuania last week. Only the owner of the blond head that popped up to meet Griffiths’ well-taken delivery was different. In Vilnius it had been Stuart Armstrong and last night it was Berra who became the first Hearts player to score for Scotland since Andy Webster a decade ago.

The pitch was slick after another day of heavy rain and Scotland peppered the Malta goal with shots from the off. The excellent Armstrong saw a left-foot shot slide just wide of the post. After a neat interchange with Andy Robertson down the left Armstrong then saw a shot ripple the side-netting.

Malta were as committed in defence as expected, time and time again throwing their bodies in front of Scottish efforts. James Forrest was frustrated by Zach Muscat’s determination to block his shot, while Andrei Agius twice made interventions to stop crosses that nearly turned into own goals.

Andrew Hogg, the Hibernians of Malta keeper, also deserved praise for his sometimes eccentric looking methods of stopping the ball entering the net. He scrambled across his line to prevent Matt Phillips’ long-range effort going in on the stroke of half time.

But while Scotland were always in control they weren’t operating quite as smoothly as Strachan would have liked. Even Griffiths’ radar at free-kicks were a bit off. He sent one five yards over from an area just outside the box where he proved so deadly against England.

But the Celtic striker was alert when presented with a chance from closer in just after half time. Robertson made headway down the left after accepting a lay-off from Armstrong before crossing to the edge of the six-yard box.

James Morrison, who replaced James Mcarthur at half-time, prodded a shot against the post. Griffiths was following up and swept the ball into the net from a couple of yards, despite credible offside appeals from the Maltese.

Griffiths should have scored at least once more before limping off injured to warm applause after 68 minutes. Chris Martin replaced him, entering the fray to an equally warm reception. It was in contrast to when he came on a few months ago against Slovenia.

But these are better times for Scotland. Martin’s late winner in that March fixture triggered a burst of late form in the group that means qualification is still possible and guarantees sold out signs outside Hampden next month.