MR VERSATILE BRINGS JOY
Phillips proves to be McLeish’s flexible friend as manager’s gamble pays off
MATT PHILLIPS played centreforward for scotland once. And a nation prayed there would be no repeat.
interim boss Malky Mackay asked the West Brom winger to fill a long-term problem position against holland in November. A fish out of water, the experiment looked likely to last as long as the average chocolate fireguard.
Yet, for Alex Mcleish, these are desperate times. And desperate times call for desperate measures.
searching for the first win — the first goal — of his second spell in charge of the national team, Big Eck took the gamble. The pay-out arrived when Phillips marked his 11th cap with his first international goal early in the second half.
Against a hungary team who must have had Ferenc Puskas spinning in his grave, victory was secured in 48 minutes, Phillips clinically slotting a Ryan Fraser cross from the right into the net with his left foot from 12 yards.
‘Matt is a versatile player,’ said Mcleish afterwards. ‘he probably would say centreforward is not his absolute best position — but we needed a goal or two. We got one and that was enough.’
A game low in genuine quality, victory was welcome after the uninspiring defeat to Costa Rica. Most of all for Mcleish, who was forced to dig deep into his impoverished resources to repair the damage done at hampden last Friday.
The victory could — should — have been more comfortable. The manager must have feared the onset of another of those friendly nights after captain Charlie Mulgrew’s penalty kick was saved by Peter Gulacsi six minutes before half-time.
Austrian referee harald lechner had pointed instantly to the spot when defender laszlo Kleinheisler clumsily collapsed on top of Fraser on the edge of the penalty area.
The Bournemouth player was going nowhere fast. it was a foolish, needless challenge and the ferocious and prolonged home protests probably granted Mulgrew a little too much time to think over his intentions.
side-footing the ball with his left foot, the effort was a good height for the RB leipzig keeper to throw himself low across his line for a fine stop. hungary’s reprieve was short-lived in the end.
On the awful, rutted surface of Ferencvaros’ Groupama Arena, the scots witnessed cautious grounds for optimism. For Mcleish, hopes of finding players capable of stepping up to international level came to fruition here.
Celtic’s Jack hendry was the only new face in a starting Xi with seven changes, and he produced a fine debut in defence. Aberdeen’s scott McKenna defended stoutly in only his second game.
Fraser had an eventful third cap, winning the penalty and providing the assist for the winning goal. in Callum McGregor and stuart Armstrong, Mcleish has two midfielders of the highest quality. Allan McGregor strengthened his case for retaining the No1 jersey with a string of fine stops.
it would be unwise to read much into scotland’s win over a cynical and limited hungary team. The best days of these two old footballing nations are firmly behind them. Despite a brief flicker of hope when they reached the last 16 of Euro 2016, the hungarians also lost their first home game under a new coach last week.
Nevertheless, for Mcleish this was a much-needed victory, his tactical punt on partnering Phillips with James Forrest up front paying a decent dividend.
The pair combined promisingly to create scotland’s first chance, a bobbling Phillips lay-off gathered by the Celtic player for a crack on goal, which fizzed wide of the far post.
scotland’s tempo was high from the off. They saw lots of the ball in midfield against a side with a robust, physical and — in the aftermath of the penalty — unpleasant edge.
Rated 50th in the world — 18 places below the scots — the home nation’s threat was sporadic. Restricted to long-range efforts in the opening half-hour, McGregor scrambled to push a curling Balazs Dzsudzsak free-kick wide in 21 minutes. Midfielder Adam Pinter also had a free header hacked off the line by Andrew Robertson before half-time.
Even so, it was hard at times to be sure which was the home team and which the away, scotland dominating possession for decent spells without looking especially likely to do a great deal with it.
Mulgrew’s squandered penalty prompted the obvious fear that this might be another night of negative headlines.
Forrest had a further fine chance to eke out a half-time lead, failing to make firm contact with a good cross from the left by McKenna.
Yet, as half-time arrived, scotland could have no doubts. Against poor and mildly desperate opponents, the game was there to be won.
The opportunistic Phillips’ finish three minutes into the second half confirmed it.
inevitably, there were moments when a one-goal margin looked flimsy. With an hour played, winger Roland Varga had far too much time to hit a long-range shot 25 yards from goal. McGregor produced a terrific save to maintain scotland’s advantage.
he was the difference in the end. A woeful lapse in concentration from Mulgrew provided a great chance for Adam szalai to nick the ball. With time and space in front of goal, he looked certain to score until the hull keeper raced from his line to block with his legs.
szalai came close to atoning seconds later, flicking a low cut-back inches wide of the far post to groans of despair from the home support.
hungary flickered and threatened but lacked the penetration or quality to find an equaliser.
Mcleish used the final stages to give more players game time. Barry Douglas of Wolves and Jason Cummings saw their first involvement over the two games, while Aberdeen duo Kenny Mclean and Ryan Christie, and Callum Paterson and Oli McBurnie, completed a late flurry of subs.