The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Scotland’s late show
Late strike has Scots right back in World Cup qualifying hunt
Scotland’s slender World Cup qualifying hopes were still alive last night after substitute Chris Martin scored a very late winner against Slovenia at Hampden. The Scots had created most of the chances on the night, and have now climbed to fourth in Group F, overtaking Lithuania.
Substitute Chris Martin’s late goal breathed new life into Scotland’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup as Gordon Strachan’s men secured a valuable 1-0 win against Slovenia at Hampden Park.
Scotland looked destined to drop further points in their Group F campaign despite a dominant display but Martin’s 88th-minute strike leaves them trailing second-placed Slovakia by only two points.
The bulk of Scotland’s chances came in the first period, with Leigh Griffiths hitting the wood work twice in the space of a minute, while Russell Martin had a goal disallowed and James Morrison saw his header cleared off the line.
Strachan had described the match as a must-win encounter, with his side having taken just four points from their opening four qualifying matches.
That sequence of results had left Scotland with only slim hopes of ending their 20-year wait to qualify for a major tournament, and also cast huge doubt over Strachan’s future. But last night's result will undoubtedly prolong the former Celtic manager's stay as national team manager.
The Scots made an excellent start and were denied the lead after just 60 seconds when Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak blocked Russell Martin’s closerange effort from Robert Snodgrass’ corner.
Martin thought he had given Scotland the breakthrough on seven minutes when he nodded home another Snodgrass corner but referee Bjorn Kuipers disallowed the goal for a foul on Miral Samardzic.
At the other end, goalkeeper Craig Gordon was called into action for the first time on 18 minutes when he stood tall to block Roman Bezjak’s effort at his near post, but the hosts’ best flurry of the just before the interval.
Griffiths somehow smashed the ball off the crossbar from six yards with the full goal to aim at, before the Celtic attacker was once again denied by the woodwork 60 seconds later when his neat low shot came back off the inside of the post. After the ball was cleared behind, the subsequent corner saw James Morrison’s goalbound header cleared off the line by Valter Birsa.