SCOTLAND hit an injury-time leveller to avoid slipping to their fourth straight loss, and avoid defeat in Georgia for the first time, as Lawrence Shankland’s late header stopped the mini rot for Steve Clarke’s men.
A double from Napoli attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia either side of Scott McTominay’s counter looked to have condemned the Scots to another frustrating evening, but Shankland popped up to send the travelling Tartan Army home happy – for once - from Tbilisi.
Here are the talking points from Clarke’s 50th match in charge of the national side…
THANK GOODNESS QUALIFICATION WAS DONE AND DUSTED
The prospect of this fixture, understandably, had the Tartan Army feeling discomfited as soon as the draw was made.
Having lost twice in Tbilisi by a goal to nil, the thought of travelling there at the business end of the group needing points to reach Germany didn’t bear thinking about. Especially with half a team missing through injury.
Mercifully, it didn’t come to that, with the game nervy, stretched and fraught enough without a place at the European Championships still being on the line.
And in the end, while Clarke will be disappointed to bring up his half century as manager without a win, it mattered little. Though, it was nice to arrest the recent slump with the late leveller, which had threatened just to take a little of the shine off an exemplary qualifying campaign.
SCOTLAND HAVE BEEN SPOILED FOR KEEPERS
Having given both Clark and Motherwell number one Liam Kelly a half each in the friendly defeat to France, Steve Clarke opted for the Hearts keeper here to deputise for the injured Angus Gunn.
It was a quiet start for Clark, save for a dolly of a long ranger that he could have thrown his hat on, but from nowhere he was soon picking the ball out of his net. And it could be argued that Clark could have done more to prevent it.
He was left horribly exposed by his defence, but while Kvaratskhelia did well to engineer a finish from a tight angle, the big man will be a bit disappointed to have been beaten at his near post.
When Lyndon Dykes gave the ball away soon after though, he redeemed himself with a fine save high to his right.
Sadly, he will also have reason to be disappointed about his role in Georgia’s second. Yes, Kvaratskhelia caught his low strike well as he cut inside onto his right foot, but Clark was slow to get down to it, and while not a massive clanger, it was still something of a surprise to see the ball evade him and find the net.
Perhaps though that was an illustration of just how spoiled Scotland fans have been over the past two decades in terms of the standard of keeper they have had – if little else.
FORMATION CHANGE LEADS TO SCOTS BEING STRETCHED
Given the fact that both captain Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney were absent through injury, it was perhaps unsurprising that the Scotland manager decided to move away from the 3-5-2 formation that was designed to accommodate both men in his team.
Nathan Patterson came in at right back, while Greg Taylor played on the left, with Ryan Porteous and Scott McKenna at the heart of the backline in a 4-3-3.
The defence was all at sea though as Georgia took the lead with their first meaningful attack. Firstly, McKenna stepped out of his position, leaving Taylor trying to cut out a pass out wide that he was never going to make, and suddenly Scotland were exposed. The cross came into the near post, and Kvaratskhelia nipped ahead of Porteous to score.
From there, Georgia looked a huge threat any time they came forward, with the Scots looking unusually stretched. They were fortunate not to fall further behind, and were ragged again when they did eventually concede a second.
This was an opportune time to experiment, but as soon as Robertson and Tierney return, so too will the 3-5-2.
REFEREE FRUSTRATES BY BUYING GIORGI KOCHORASHVILI ANTICS
If this football lark doesn’t pan out for Kochorashvili, then surely a future on stage or screen awaits. The midfielder’s antics here were nothing short of a disgrace, and the worse part of it all, was that referee Aleksandar Stavrev bought most of his act.
He got the impressive Patterson booked by throwing himself to the deck holding his face after the full-back had brushed him with his pinkie, and could have been off himself after scything down McTominay in the second half, before again throwing himself to the deck when the Scotland midfielder refused his handshake.
That was the general theme of the evening, with the Georgians pulling off every trick in the book to get themselves over the line, and the North Macedonian official falling for it time and again.
SHANKLAND TAKES HIS CHANCE TO SHINE
It is often said about this Scotland side that all it is missing is a top-class striker. Though, it could be argued they are missing a top-quality keeper at the moment, too.
Without wishing to disparage Lyndon Dykes, who has been a fine servant for his country, the absence of Che Adams here really laid bare the lack of options at the sharp end of the Scotland attack.
It was a night where nothing came off for Dykes. The ball bounced off him to give Georgia a great opportunity, then one ball up to him went through his legs.
He kept plugging away, and was unlucky as Giorgi Mamardashvili clawed out a second half header, but as Clarke looked to his bench to replace the tiring QPR man, he had a straight choice between Jacob Brown and Shankland.
He opted for Shankland, and he was rewarded as the Hearts man did brilliantly to hold off his man and get his head on Stuart Armstrong’s deep cross to salvage a draw in stoppage time.
Having not been in the original squad for this one, Shankland will hope this will help push him back into the picture to go to Germany.
