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for er Not njured t that swimas not e way o were crowding him out. It took only four minutes for the other Astroturf refusenik to create the first goal. This was a source of intense relief and perhaps also frustration for Mcleish. Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser would likely have been a first-choice against Kazakhstan if not for some fretting finance figure at the English club with a responsibility for purchasing insurance policies. Fraser’s swung-in cross was cushioned into the net by Kenny Mclean’s head. It was a well-worked goal for a team supposed to be suffering a crisis in confidence but then both of those involved were spared the anguish of the Astana Arena.
After 31 minutes, the length of time in which Cyprus scored four times against San Marino on Thursday, Scotland were only one in front. More disturbingly, they’d almost let San Marino, who have now lost 90 of their last 91 qualifiers, equalise. Aldolfo Hirsch shot into the side-netting after the Scottish defence again proved vulnerable to a clever angled pass.
Every pundit asked had mentioned the importance of an early goal. Scotland got it and then, well, nothing really. 2 Johnny Russell challenges the San Marino defence as Marc Mcnulty looks on. Skipper Andy Robertson applauds the Tartan Army after the game, below, but the Scottish fans had already made their displeasure clear. Stuart Armstrong was thwarted by a double save after Paterson did what he was there to do and nodded down a long ball forward, which Johnny Russell neatly touched on to the Southampton midfielder.
It was hoped Scotland might start imposing themselves towards the end, when the part-timers would be tiring. Russell’s goal, while welcome and again well-constructed, did little to alter the mood in the stands and at home, where Mcleish will feel – possibly correctly – that a lot of people were sitting willing him to fail.
It won’t have passed their attention that San Marino were pushing for an equaliser in the latter stages of the game before Scotland broke away and scored. Three points and two goals in the credit column in is the greatest gimme in international football does not translate into salvation for Mcleish.
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