Match Summary

Scotland Team

England Team

The day that all Scots had been waiting for finally arrived and the two teams were greeted by a pulsating atmosphere for this World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park.  As it turned out, an explosive finish to the match would be what everyone would remember from an otherwise drab game.

Scotland set out their stall early on with ten players behind the ball, leaving Leigh Griffiths to plough a lone furrow on his own up front.  Meanwhile, England kept possession and tried to probe for the openings that would unlock the defence.  It did make for a poor spectacle at times with the ball being passed from side to side and hardly anything going forward or indeed going in to the Scottish penalty area.  The first incident of note was a booking for the Scotland skipper Scott Brown, for a reckless challenge on Deli Alli, a note of intent perhaps, to stop the in-form Spurs player.

Scotland did win a few corners in the opening quarter but nothing came from them apart from a shot from Griffiths which Joe Hart easily saved.  That was to be Scotland's only first-half effort on target, and it was England who created the game's first real chance in the 18th minute.  Alli's chipped pass was brilliantly brought down by Harry Kane, but his left-foot shot flew over as the Scottish defenders dived in.  Six minutes later and Adam Lallana made a good run down the left and managed to flick the ball across goal.  It just needed a firm touch but Kane couldn't get enough on the ball to oblige.

On 29 minutes another chance arrived for England.  A long ball forward saw the Scotland keeper, Craig Gordon, dash out of his area to head clear.  Unfortunately the ball went straight to Kane who promptly lobbed the ball towards goal.  Luckily for the keeper Charlie Mulgrew got back to head the ball off the line, but still the danger wasn't over.  The ball was not cleared properly and fell to Marcus Rashford, but his low shot was deflected just wide, much to the relief of Gordon.

England were well on top at this stage but the ball was not going into the Scottish penalty area quick enough, and when it did the defenders were back in numbers.  Gordon was already looking decidedly shaky which should have given England even more impetus to pepper the goal.  On 43 minutes good English possession ended with Jake Livermore being teed up for a firm shot which seemed an easy catch for Gordon.  But not for the first, or last time, the goalkeeper elected to fist the ball away.  He was very lucky that the ball deflected over the bar because he had little control over where the ball was going as he thrust his fists at it.  Livermore was booked for a silly foul before the break but the Scots were delighted that they had reached the break with the scores level.  Throughout the half, Rashford had been taking the corners and not once did England put Gordon under pressure from them.  What is it with England and corners lately?  Wayne Rooney wasn't the answer, Kane wasn't and nor was Rashford.  Surely there is someone who can take a decent corner?

The second half began in much the same fashion, with England forcing the issue and Scotland content to hold on to what they had.  Credit to Griffiths whose non-stop running and effort was continually keeping the England defenders on their toes.  In the 50th minute Livermore fired in a shot that deflected on to the left-hand post, and in the scramble that followed no England player could find a decisive shot with Gary Cahill's last effort being deflected for a corner.  Seven minutes later Scotland had a rare attack and Andy Robertson should have done better with a shot that flew over.  Griffiths went down in the box, as he had done after every slight touch, but the referee was not being duped.  On 65 minutes, after much repetition across the midfield, England made their first change, bringing on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the fading Rashford.  Almost immediately England created another chance.  This time Ryan Bertrand's cross found Kane and his header forced Gordon to once again pat the ball up into the air.  Ali followed up but this time Gordon caught the low cross.

Finally, in the 70th minute, England scored a deserved goal.  A throw-in on the right found Oxlade-Chamberlain and he nutmegged Brown before bursting into the area.  He side-stepped other defenders before firing in a left-foot shot.  Again it seemed an easy catch for the goalkeeper but again he tried to pat it away.  This time though his luck ran out as the shot was too strong and the ball flew into the net much to the delight of the England players.

Brown was very lucky not to be penalised again for another reckless challenge on Alli as England looked to increase their control, and after Dier headed over England should have put the game out of reach seconds later.  Oxlade-Chamberlain broke down the right and put over a pinpoint cross which saw Lallana running in to meet it.  Alas, the header was awful and the ball flew over.  It was a golden chance and one that should have wrapped up the game.

With five minutes left the fun started!  Cahill was somewhat harshly penalised just outside the penalty area and Griffiths lined up the free-kick.  The wall lined up but immediately it was obvious that Hart was offering too much of the goal to his left.  Griffiths said 'thank you very much' and promptly put the ball into acres of space left by the goalkeeper.  Defensively it was a poor goal, but credit to Griffiths who scored his first goal for his country in some style.  If that made the crowd deliriously happy, Livermore then gave away another free-kick in almost the same position and this time Griffiths scored in the other side of the goal!  Again it seemed that Hart had gone home.  Really poor goalkeeping in my opinion, although well executed by Griffiths again.

So, here we were, from a position of total control to a position of losing to the Scots in Scotland for the first time since goodness knows when.  Surely not?  Well, no actually, as it wasn't quite all over.  In the third minute of added time England won a free-kick of their own on the edge of Scotland's box.  Dier's shot was on target and Gordon once again elected to push the ball away instead of catching it.  Kyle Walker won the ball back, passed to Raheem Sterling on the left and for virtually the first time in the match a lovely cross came in and there was Kane, not to be denied in his first game as captain, to volley home brilliantly past the bemused Gordon.  Several of the Scotland players sank to their knees, as did many in the crowd if truth be told.

Phew, what a finish!  But really, England should never have found themselves in that position and should have wrapped up the game long before that late Scottish surge.  You could argue that all four goals could be put down to goalkeeping errors, and that is something that both managers will want to look at.  Meanwhile England still top the group and Scotland will have to find the same energy and passion in their next game as they did against the auld enemy.  I doubt whether that will happen though as beating England is the only thing they really want.  Once again though they didn't manage it.
  

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Mike Payne - football historian and contributor