IT wasn’t quite a game of two halves at Hampden as Scotland took on Greece, more a game of 64 minutes then the remaining 30-odd.
And the mood of BOTH players and fans was encapsulated in one moment before things turned in the Tartan Army‘s favour at the national stadium.
On a night where Steve Clarke‘s men knew it really had to be a win to keep their World Cup destiny well and truly in their own hands, things certainly didn’t look like they were going to plane.
The Scots barely laid a glove in a first half that was dominated by the Greeks, who won 3-0 on their last visit to Glasgow back in March.
This time, they passed up several opportunities as Clarke’s men clung on for dear life.
The inevitable came on 62 minutes, when Roma‘s Kostas Tsimikas – a long time understudy of Scots skipper Andy Robertson at Liverpool – fired home the opening goal.
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An already quiet Hampden somehow seemed to be silenced even further.
The goal came just a few minutes after the fans in attendance showed their displeasure at a somewhat surprising substitution call by Steve Clarke.
And the player who was taken off was none too happy about it either!
Most fans were delighted to see Ben Gannon-Doak starting at Hampden and the Bournemouth star looked lively at times when the majority of his teammates did not.
That was why, therefore, many punters inside Hampden loudly booed as Gannon-Doak’s number was held up as part of a 58th minute double substitution.
Billy Gilmour was sent on in his place.
Supporters weren’t happy and TV cameras captured the fact that Gannon-Doak wasn’t particularly pleased either!
The former Celtic and Liverpool kid shook his head as he made his away off the long way behind one of the goals.
Commentators Liam McLeod and Steven Thompson remarked they hoped their was “method to the madness.”
It looked like Clarke had got it wrong when the Greeks crashed in the opener a few minutes later.
But Scotland – who as mentioned, had barely laid a glove – mounted a remarkable and rather unlikely comeback.
Ryan Christie fired home the leveller just two minutes after Greece‘s opener, a goal that survived despite a lengthy VAR check for an offside.
Lewis Ferguson‘s first international goal followed shortly after, sending Hampden wild.
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And the on-field turnaround – and one concerning the mood of the punters in the stands – was complete when Lyndon Dykes capitalised on a remarkable goalkeeping howler in the dying moments to secure a crunch 3-1 victory.
Scotland remain level on points with Denmark on seven points, with a bit of daylight now from the Greeks who are on three.
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