Scotland 1-0 Slovakia
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Thu 5th October 2017
19:45
Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)
Att: 46,733
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
Skrtel (og 89)
C Gordon
K Tierney (I Anya 82)
C Berra
C Mulgrew
A Robertson
D Fletcher(C) (J McArthur 79)
B Bannan
J Forrest (C Martin 61)
J Morrison
M Phillips
L Griffiths
Manager:
Gordon Strachan
FIFA Ranking: 43
Mak(23)
M Dubravka
P Pekarik
M Skrtel(C)
J Durica
T Hubocan
J Gregus
S Lobotka
J Kucka (N Gyomber 80)
M Hamsik (O Duda 79)
R Mak
A Nemec (V Weiss 79)
Manager:
Jan Kozak
FIFA Ranking: 19
Key: Goals Assists Missed Penalty Red Card
| 1 | Craig Gordon (Celtic) | (50 Caps) | Age: 34 | ||
| 2 | Kieran Tierney (Celtic) | (7 Caps) | Age: 20 | ||
| 3 | Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) | (18 Caps) | Age: 23 | ||
| 4 | Christophe Berra (Hearts) | (39 Caps) | Age: 32 | ||
| 5 | Charlie Mulgrew (Blackburn Rovers) | (30 Caps) | Age: 31 | ||
| 6 | Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday) |  |
(26 Caps) | Age: 27 | |
| 7 | James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion) | |
(46 Caps) | Age: 31 | |
| 8 | Darren Fletcher (Stoke City) Captain | (79 Caps) | Age: 33 | ||
| 9 | Leigh Griffiths (Celtic) | (16 Caps) | Age: 27 | ||
| 10 | Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion) | (7 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 11 | James Forrest (Celtic) | (20 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 13 | Ikechi Anya (Derby County) | (28 Caps) | Age: 29 | ||
| (Replaced Kieran Tierney 82 min) | |||||
| 16 | James McArthur (Crystal Palace) | (31 Caps) | Age: 29 | ||
| (Replaced Darren Fletcher 79 min) | |||||
| 19 | Chris Martin (Derby County) | (16 Caps) | Age: 28 | ||
| (Replaced James Forrest 61 min) | |||||
| Own Goals |
 |
||||
Yellow Card  Red Card  Double Booking Goals Scored Assist  Penalty Save |
|||||
16 James McArthur
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Thu 5th October 2017
19:45
Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)
Att: 46,733
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
World Cup 2018 Qualifiers
Group Stages
Thu 5th October 2017
19:45
Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)
Att: 46,733
Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)
The bad news for Scotland going into the must win game against Slovakia, was that both captain Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong were out injured. They would both be replaced by Darren Fletcher and Barry Bannan. Scotland took the game to Slovakia, and could have won a penalty in the first 10 minutes when Mak fouled Kierney in the box. The ref waved play on though. Just before the 20 minute mark, the Slovak keeper Dubravka pulled off a great save to prevent Berra scoring a second header in two games. A few minutes later, Mak took a dive in the box. The referee was not fooled though, and he gave Mak a second yellow card, to reduce Slovakia to 10 men. 10 minutes before half time, Dubravka pulled off another good save, this time from a curling Griffiths shot from the edge of the box. On the hour mark, Chris Martin came on and boosted the Scotland attack. A minute later, a swerving shot from just outside the box by Griffiths, was again superbly saved by Dubravka. With just over 20 minutes remaining, Chris Martin beat Dubravka, but smacked the bar with a curling shot from outside the box. Four minutes later, Martin was fouled just outside the box, in a similar position to the England game. Up stepped Griffiths, but he also smacked the bar. The ball then came to James Morrison one on one with the keeper, but again Dubravka pulled off a superb save. Dubravka was having the game of his life and it was looking like this would not be Scotland's night. With 89 minutes on the clock, Griffiths turned the defender and then stretched to knock the ball to substitute Anya on the wing. He played a low ball in for Chris Martin, who was being marked by Martin Skrtel. The pressure from Chris Martin caused Skrtel to knock the ball past Dubravka into his own net, and send Hampden absolutely wild. Scotland then held on to get an important victory, with another late late winner, and put Scotland second in the group with one game remaining and two points ahead of Slovakia.