SO good we’re now winning games we don’t need to win.
Drawing 1-1 with ten minutes to go, Scotland had the result they needed to take into Tuesday’s final game decider with Ukraine.
But Jack Hendry’s equaliser wasn’t enough for Steve Clarke’s men.
It was a victory they wanted for the Tartan Army at Hampden – and revenge for June’s summer defeat to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
And up stepped Ryan Christie with a nerveless penalty winner.
This was another feel-good victory for this Scotland team who are now within one point of finishing top of this Nations League group.
Scotland conceded a poor goal from a corner to fall behind.
John Egan swivelled inside a crowded penalty box after poor defending from the men in dark blue to give the visitors the lead.
It was just such a soft goal to concede at this level.
Scotland had played some really decent stuff up until that point in the game.
There was an outstanding early move involving Aaron Hickey, Stuart Armstrong, Dykes and McTominay.
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Christie also pulled a shot wide of the target.
But the truth was that the first-half went exactly to the opposition’s game-plan.
Stephen Kenny’s team got the ball forward quickly with their 5-3-2 formation solid all over the park.
Scotland just didn’t play as well as they can.
Dykes started the match ahead of Che Adams but he made little inroads in a huge frustrating first 45 minutes.
The QPR striker came into the game on the back of his two-goals against Ukraine last Wednesday night.
But he just didn’t get the service from the wide areas that he thrives on.
Things just didn’t go Scotland’s way before the break.
In 37 minutes Kieran Tierney was hauled to the ground inside the box as he jostled with Troy Parrot at a corner.
The Arsenal star got trampled on too and picked up an injury which forced him to go off.
KT appeared to tell the Scotland doctor he was fine to carry on, but the decision seemed to be taken out of his hands by the medic with Celtic’s Greg Taylor taking his place.
But should it have been a penalty?
There was certainly an argument that Parrott made little or no attempt to get to the ball.
In another incident, Ireland could easily have been reduced to ten men before the end of the first-half.
Josh Cullen went into the Swiss referee’s book for a foul on John McGinn and then just seconds later tripped Hickey.
On another night he could easily have seen a red card.
The important thing was for Scotland to keep their cool going into the second half. Panicking wasn’t going to help anyone.
They also had to raise the tempo by moving the ball quicker.
And that’s exactly what Scotland did.
Making it 1-1 just four minutes after the restart was exactly what Clarke would have hoped for.
It was a brilliantly worked goal too.
Christie showed his trickery and class on the ball to get to the bye-line and stand up a cross for Hendry to attack.
The big defender then glanced his header into the bottom corner of the net with clinical accuracy.
The Tartan Army were up out their seats and now urging the team on.
But the Republic almost hit back with another goal almost instantly.
Hitting Scotland on the break, Parrot was one-on-one with Craig Gordon but the veteran No1 refused to be beaten and made a vital block with his legs.
There was a heart-in-the-mouth moment a short time later when he kicked a pass-back straight to striker Michael Obafemi.
But Gordon made up for his rare error with a good reaction to the situation.
With 20 minutes to go Scotland almost didn’t know whether to stick or twist.
The situation they were in meant they only needed another draw against Ukraine in Poland on Tuesday night.
Winning wouldn’t actually put them in any better position in the last game.
But the danger was that losing another goal would mean the team would have to win in Krakow.
Clarke’s men didn’t let up, though.
They took the view that attacking was their best form of defence and another goal almost came.
Sub Ryan Fraser blasted a shot keeper Gavin Bazunu saved with McTominay close to heading home.
But it was coming.
The home support weren’t interested in seeing their heroes defend for the point they needed. They urged them on and willed them to go for the victory.
With ten minutes to go Ireland’s Alan Browne jumped for a McGinn corner with his arms in the air.
The ball struck his hand with the ref perfectly position to see it and point to the spot.
Up stepped Christie to fire Scotland ahead.
His dad Charlie was sitting in the stand and he almost couldn’t look as his boy did his country proud.
The Republic team threw everything at the closing minutes and a scuffle saw McTominay booked, ruling him out of to Tuesday’s crucial clash.
But that’s something Clarke and the Scotland supporters can worry about tomorrow.
The Tartan Army went into the Glasgow night singing they’ll be coming. And it’s Ukraine next in Poland.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
