Kane strike can’t hide England’s Auld faults

FOR five minutes, we witnessed a genuine classic of the Auld Enemy matches. It had everything; iconic goals to rival Archie Gemmill, potential humiliation for England, dramatic comebacks and – for a couple of minutes at least – a din to remind you why Hampden Park was so feared by Englishmen.

The pity was the 87 minutes we had to endure up until that point, with an unambitious Scotland team seemingly unable to engage their opponents and, until the introduction of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, an England side without the wit to capitalise.

And yet, when the story of this game is told down the generations – as it surely will be if only as a missed opportunity for Scotland – no one will linger on those first 87 minutes. Only the last three minutes and four more of added time will make the cut.

England were 1-0 up and cruising to an uninspiring, yet important, World Cup qualifying victory when Gary Cahill conceded a free-kick some 25 yards from goal.

Leigh Griffiths stepped up to take it, but a shot seemed ambitious. Nonetheless, he delivered a quite superb strike, which swerved past Joe Hart’s left-hand side into the net and sent Hampden into ecstasy. Honour, at least, had been salvaged. And yet there was more.

From the restart, England conceded possession, Scotland advanced and won another free kick in an identical position.

Griffiths stepped up again. This, though, was surely pushing the boundaries of optimism.

And yet he repeated the trick to find the opposite corner — two goals in two minutes and 58 seconds — to send Hampden into a delirium perhaps not seen since 1985, when England were last defeated on this old ground.

England heads hung low. They had been close to a famous win; now surely Gareth Southgate’s men would embrace abject failure.

And yet from their own free-kick deep in added time, Eric Dier forced Craig Gordon to beat the ball away desperately. Hampden was momentarily relieved and roared as Scotland sprung into a counter-attack. For a few seconds the modernised stadium was as animated as it surely ever was before refurbishment.

And then came the English punchline; substitute Raheem Sterling intercepted the ball, delivered a raking cross from the left and captain Harry Kane, who had barely featured until then, volleyed it confidently past Gordon.

What a stark contrast to the football which had gone before. There certainly wasn’t much to enjoy in that opening 45 minutes.

Overall there was little sign of the outstanding leadership Southgate had demanded — or great football.

From Scotland there was at least redoubtable defence.

Other than an encouraging opening 10 minutes and a couple of corners, Scotland’s objective was to avoid something humiliating in front of a crowd far more raucous and engaged than the quality of the game merited.

For long periods, their back three morphed into a back five and even then, James Morrison stayed back to anchor the midfield.

So England were not entirely to blame for the lack of inspiration. Still, this is a puzzle teams are frequently set at international level. And the fact that Scotland were not especially engaging did not excuse the number of times England gave the ball away or played long, hopeful passes to nowhere.

Marcus Rashford suffered most, looking tired at the end of this campaign and twice misplacing crossfield balls, far from any team-mate. He struggled to impose himself.

That said, he had what amounted to one of the best chances on 36 minutes but he shot wide.

Another missed opportunity came on 18 minutes, Dier’s intelligent lofted ball finding Tottenham teammate Kane, who took it down but skewed his shot wildly over.

Kane would have another ambitious attempt on 30 minutes. With Gordon off his line he tried a lob; Andy Robertson headed off the line but Rashford picked up the scraps only for his follow-up shot to be well saved by Gordon.

Adam Lallana at least tried to make things happen. He jinked inside his man on 40 minutes and for a moment it looked like space was opening up, but his shot was deflected wide.

Things improved marginally in the second half. Firstly England came close to taking the lead with a Jake Livermore strike from the edge of the box taking a deflection and rebounding off a post.

That appeared to spark Scotland into life. They even ventured out of their half and discovered that England were, indeed, vulnerable.

Griffiths claimed a penalty when he collided with Kyle Walker in the box, but more dangerous still was the Celtic man charging down the right and seeing Robertson hanging back for an inviting pass on 57 minutes. Griffiths did his bit, finding his man in space and an inviting chance beckoned but Robertson could only miscue over the bar. There hadn’t been much to show from Scotland, so they couldn’t afford to waste genuine opportunities when they came.

Both sides continued to labour; Rashford was excused further participation on 65 minutes, Oxlade-Chamberlain (right) replacing him.

Perhaps chastened by being supplanted by a teenager, the Arsenal man responded in the best way imaginable, lighting up a dull game. On 70 minutes he singlehandedly led England out of their maze of indecision. Picking up the ball on the edge of the penalty area, he weaved his way across goal and then unleashed a left-footed strike which beat Gordon’s flailing attempt to save. As the net rippled and a glum silence resounded around Hampden Park, Chamberlain beckoned his team-mates to celebrate with gusto in a corner right in front of Scottish fans. It was as if he wanted to rub it in. On 75 minutes, England should have sealed a win, Oxlade-Chamberlain lifting a lovely cross only for Lallana head over. The best, though, was yet to come. SCOTLAND (5-3-2): Gordon 5.5; Anya 6.5 (C Martin 81 mins, 6), Berra 7.5, Mulgrew 7.5, Tierney 7, Robertson 7; Morrison 6 (McArthur 46, 6), Snodgrass 6 (Fraser 67, 6), Brown 6; Griffiths 8, Armstrong 6 SUBS NOT USED: Marshall, Naismith, Bannan, D Fletcher, Forrest, R Martin, Cairney, Reynolds, Hamilton GOALS: Griffiths 87, 90 ENGLAND (4-2-3-1): Hart 5; Walker 7, Bertrand 7, Cahill 6.5, Smalling 6.5; Dier 6.5 Livermore 7.5 (Defoe 90+5, 6); Alli 6 (Sterling 84, 6.5), Rashford 6 (OxladeChamberlain 65, 7), Lallana 6; Kane 7 SUBS NOT USED: Forster, Trippier, Lingard, Gibson, Stones, Jones, Cresswell, Heaton, Butland GOALS: Oxlade-Chamberlain 70, Kane 90+3 REFEREE: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)