Tartan Army cheers for English goal sum up strange times at Hampden

Andrew Smith

The Hampden roar when England score. It sounds like a line in a poem by someone imagining a parallel universe wherein everything is topsy-turvy. As if Donald Trump were British prime minister.

We would not want to go there. Last night though, as the cheers for a home equaliser at Wembley rang out among a decent crowd on the Mount Florida slopes, all Scotland supporters were happy to go where they never thought possible.

That, in itself, tells of the topsy-turvy nature of this World Cup qualifying campaign. A year ago, as England enjoyed a faultless opening to Group F and Gordon Strachan’s men serially faltered, in part Gareth Southgate’s men seemed to be helping ensure there was no route to Russia for their ancient rivals.

How it all turns. Scotland are now two games away from a possible play-off slot because England are offering assistance as they limp along.

The first Hampden hurrah from home fans for an England goal in living memory arrived in the 37th minute last night when Eric Dier equalised a surprise third-minute opener for Slovakia.

That goal for the Slovaks, who had been sandwiched

“‘Wouldn’t it just be like the thing if they lost at Wembley for the first time in a decade when we need them not to’ As if England would lose just to spite Scotland”

between England and Scotland in the top three in Group F, had meant there was fretting among the Tartan Army even after Christophe Berra breached the Maltese defence within the first ten minutes.

News filtering through from Wembley that England could provide no instance response to the Stanislav Lobotka engendered scary talk among the Scotland faithful. Little wonder, since it would have kept the Slovaks four points ahead of Strachan’s men with two games to play – the first of them at Hampden in a month.

That, now, humongous encounter would have been rendered wholly irrelevant if they had beaten England because they have Malta at