Scotland defeated Malta 2-0 at Hampden Park to ensure their bid to reach next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia is now in their own hands.
The Scots cruised to a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Christophe Berra and Leigh Griffiths, which leaves them third in Group F, while Slovakia’s 2-1 defeat against England means Gordon Strachan’s men will qualify for the play-offs by winning their final two fixtures.
While three points was the only acceptable outcome for Gordon Strachan’s men against a Maltese side yet to get off the mark in qualifying Group F, attention was also fixed on second-placed Slovakia’s trip to England and alarm was raised when Stanislav Lobotka netted the opener at Wembley after just three minutes.
The rare occurrence of the Tartan Army cheering an England goal greeted news of Eric Dier’s equaliser just short of half-time however, with Marcus Rashford adding a second goal for Gareth Southgate’s men after the break.
Scotland take on Slovakia, who they now trail by one point, in their next fixture at Hampden Park next month, ahead of a potentially crucial final group fixture against Slovenia in Ljubljana three days later, with their pursuit of a play-off place now alive and kicking following a poor start to the campaign.
Strachan went for continuity by naming the same team that defeated Lithuania 3-0 in Vilnius on Friday, a side which included six Celtic players and Inverness-born Stuart Armstrong, who netted his first goal for his country in that match, was the first to threaten for Scotland with a 20-yard shot which he dragged wide of Andrew Hogg’s left-hand post, while James McArthur saw an effort blocked moments later.
Scotland’s threat was increasing and they made the breakthrough after nine minutes, when Leigh Griffiths’ pinpoint inswinging corner picked out Berra at the back post, with the Hearts defender thumping a downward header into the net.
A fine start and Armstrong was close to adding his second in as many games on 14 minutes, but shot into the side netting after being released by Andy Robertson’s threaded pass.
The hosts were keen to add a second before the break, with Berra steering another Griffiths corner wide on 36 minutes, while Matt Phillips tested Hogg with another long-range effort, but the hosts increasingly struggled to rekindle their early spark as the first-half wore on.
Scotland doubled their lead just four minutes into the second-half, with Leigh Griffiths prodding the ball home from close-range after half-time substitute James Morrison had knocked Robertson’s low delivery off the post.
Scotland created further chances in the second-half, with Forrest seeing his low strike tipped wide by Hogg, who also did well to get down to Griffiths’ low shot shortly before the attacker was forced off with a calf injury.
Malta’s best chance of the evening came on 75 minutes when Joseph Zerafa forced Craig Gordon to parry, with attacker Alfred Effiong unable to steer the rebound home from close-range.
