World Cup 2018: Scotland 1-0 Slovenia

By Tom EnglishBBC Scotland

Last updated on 26 March 2017.From the section Football118

The Scotland players were jubilant after Chris Martin's late winner

Chris Martin scored late on as Scotland saw off Slovenia to keep their slim hopes of reaching the World Cup alive.

The home side produced an excellent first-half showing, with Leigh Griffiths hitting the bar then post.

The visitors improved after the break but substitute Martin's left-foot finish with two minutes left won it.

Scotland, whose head coach Gordon Strachan had described this match as a must-win, are now fourth in Group F, two points behind Slovakia in second.

England are top of the table on 13 points after their 2-0 win over Lithuania earlier on Sunday.

Scots come out fighting

Defender Russell Martin tested Jan Oblak in the first few minutes — Scotland defender Russell Martin tested Jan Oblak in the first few minutes

Strachan picked Kieran Tierney, Celtic's teenage left-back, at right-back and turned to Griffiths as his main striker.

With their backs to the wall, Scotland came out fighting with an intensity that set Slovenia rocking.

The game was only a minute old when keeper Jan Oblak dived away to his right to keep out a Russell Martin volley from a Robert Snodgrass corner, but the siege on the Slovenian penalty area carried on and on.

Martin caused more bother a few moments later when he headed home from another Snodgrass cross, but the big defender was done for a push. Then it was Griffiths' turn, his angled header, after excellent work from the terrific Stuart Armstrong, drifted wide.

This was a different Scotland and a jittery Slovenia. Defensively, they were an unadulterated mess. Offensively, they scarcely existed save for one effort from Roman Bezjak that Craig Gordon dealt with.

The Griffiths show

Towards the end of the opening half, Scotland upped the ante and came painfully close to scoring. James Morrison thundered a shot just wide, then it became the Griffiths show, a mini soap opera amid a major drama.

A fine Scottish move saw the splendid Andy Robertson put Snodgrass away down the left side of the penalty box. The West Ham midfielder clipped a precise cross towards the back post where Griffiths was lurking. The Celtic man had to score, simply had to. Instead, from point-blank range inside the six-yard box, Griffiths smashed his volley onto the crossbar.

Leigh Griffiths had a glorious first-half chance but he hit the bar with the goal at his mercy

It was a miss that shocked Hampden. There was a small crowd in the old place, but their groans were almost deafening in that moment. A minute later, though, Griffiths had another chance when a great surge and nice delivery from Armstrong presented another chance to the Celtic striker.

This was considerably harder, and he made a good fist of it, steering his right-foot shot off the inside of Oblak's left-hand post. The ball rolled across goal and was hoofed clear. Griffiths was desperately unlucky.

In this mad flurry, there was another Scottish opportunity. A further minute on from Griffiths' second chance, Morrison had a looping header cleared off the line by Valter Birsa. All this good stuff, all these chances and nothing to show for it was torture for the hosts.

Strachan fights on

Griffiths took a dunt from Oblak in the dying minutes of the opening half and he was replaced by Steven Naismith in the opening minutes of the second half. Scotland lost their edge as the game wore on, though.

Sub Chris Martin fired in the crucial winner with only minutes left to play at Hampden

They had huge amounts of possession but not enough accuracy and nothing like the chances they had earlier in the game.

There was one, however. A good one. With 15 minutes left, Ikechi Anya replaced Snodgrass and within seconds, more slapstick Slovenian defending created an opportunity for the substitute. With time and space, he tried to curl his shot around Oblak, but didn't get nearly enough on it. Oblak made an easy save. Hampden held its head in its hands again.

Strachan brought on Chris Martin in a frantic attempt to salvage the victory they desperately needed. And what a twist he served up. Martin was booed on to the field by sections of the home support, but with two minutes left, more clever work from Armstrong set up the striker, who hit his shot low past a stunned Oblak and in off his left-hand post.

It was a thoroughly deserved winner on a dramatic night. Scotland found their best performance of the campaign and get to dream on. Strachan, meanwhile, lives to fight another day.

Line-ups
Match Stats
Live Text

Line-ups

Scotland

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Gordon
2Tierney
4Martin
5Mulgrew
3Robertson
8Brown
7MorrisonSubstituted forMartinat 82'minutes
11Forrest
6S Armstrong
10SnodgrassSubstituted forAnyaat 75'minutes
9GriffithsSubstituted forNaismithat 50'minutes

Substitutes

12McGregor
13Martin
14Anya
15Berra
16McGinn
17Ritchie
18Fletcher
19Bannan
20Naismith
21Hamilton
22Cairney
23Rhodes

Slovenia

Formation 4-3-3

1Oblak
23Struna
4SamardzicBooked at 90mins
5CesarBooked at 23mins
13JokicBooked at 6mins
20KamplSubstituted forOmladicat 87'minutes
6Krhin
8Kurtic
10BirsaBooked at 62minsSubstituted forBericat 69'minutes
7Ilicic
14BezjakBooked at 55minsSubstituted forVerbicat 58'minutes

Substitutes

2Sirok
3Krajnc
9Beric
11Novakovic
12Belec
15Struna
16Koprivec
17Mevlja
18Omladic
19Zajc
21Verbic
22Crnic

Referee:: Björn Kuipers
Attendance:: 20,435

Match Stats

Home TeamScotlandAway TeamSlovenia

Possession: Home61%; Away39%

Shots: Home16; Away4

Shots on Target: Home6; Away1

Corners: Home9; Away1

Fouls: Home13; Away15

Live Text

Post update
Match ends, Scotland 1, Slovenia 0.
90'+5'
Full Time
Second Half ends, Scotland 1, Slovenia 0.

90'+4'
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
90'+3'
Post update
Delay in match Jasmin Kurtic (Slovenia) because of an injury.
90'+3'
Post update
James Forrest (Scotland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
90'+3'
Post update
Foul by Bojan Jokic (Slovenia).
90'+1'
Booking
Miral Samardzic (Slovenia) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90'+1'
Post update
Chris Martin (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+1'
Post update
Foul by Miral Samardzic (Slovenia).
90'
Post update
Foul by Ikechi Anya (Scotland).
90'
Post update
Nik Omladic (Slovenia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
88'
Goal!
Goal! Scotland 1, Slovenia 0. Chris Martin (Scotland) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Stuart Armstrong.
87'
Substitution
Substitution, Slovenia. Nik Omladic replaces Kevin Kampl.
87'
Post update
Scott Brown (Scotland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
87'
Post update
Foul by Jasmin Kurtic (Slovenia).
86'
Post update
Steven Naismith (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
86'
Post update
Foul by Benjamin Verbic (Slovenia).
86'
Post update
Hand ball by Stuart Armstrong (Scotland).
84'
Post update
Attempt saved. Steven Naismith (Scotland) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Chris Martin.
83'
Post update
Foul by Ikechi Anya (Scotland).

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118 comments

Comment posted by Camy, at 00:40 27 Mar 2017
There really is a sad group of England fans that pounce on any chance to downplay Scotland.

Yeah we're not great, but at least we can accept it. Beating Slovenia is a great achievement for us, so you go enjoy your win, we'll enjoy ours.

When it comes to the World Cup anyway, there's nothing greater than England thinking that 'this is our year', and being humiliated left, right and centre. :)
Comment posted by ian, at 23:33 26 Mar 2017
8. Posted by grumpygit on
3 minutes ago

It does work both ways we deserved the win tonight 100/% and so did Iceland a few months ago when they played Engeerrrrrlund
Comment posted by ian, at 23:14 26 Mar 2017
That Tonite was a remider of what Scotland can play like when every player is giving there all, it was a totally deverved victory and would have been a shame had we not won this match, so for once a massive thank you to the players for getting over the line do that again in june against England and just maybe 6 million Scots can again start believing again but well done tonite Scotland.
Comment posted by U16519336, at 05:05 27 Mar 2017
I hope you Scots get through, I can see you getting a draw against England or maybe doing an Iceland. Even if you lose you could win the last 4 and qualify. Good luck from an Englander. Push on and get to Russia, be a better tourny with you there.
Comment posted by morebalanceplease, at 07:01 27 Mar 2017
Apologies for the English trolls, most of us like to see the home nations do well. And there's really no need to slag our team off in return. We have plenty of our own "fans" doing that already! I hope we both can qualify.
Comment posted by ian, at 00:03 27 Mar 2017
If Iceland were in this group it would have been even tougher for us as England would have grabbed the second spot.
Comment posted by comments 21, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017
Exciting game, and they deserve nothing less as they continually pushed forward with a positive approach. Would have been injustice if they never got the three points. On the day, they can give England a game but will be in the lap of the gods.... Well done Scotland.
Comment posted by norsefox, at 23:28 26 Mar 2017
@6

What on earth is the point of you? You're not even responding to anything in the article.

0/10 quality trolling.
Comment posted by wee Bill Harris, at 23:35 26 Mar 2017
@6

Nothing funnier than a troll who can't spell or maybe is just thick.
Comment posted by U14954189, at 23:36 26 Mar 2017
Umpteenth. You need to brush up on your footballing knowledge. Slovenia had lost 1 in 9 before tonight qualified for three tournaments since we last did and they are 9 spots above us rankings. We played well for long periods and that was all we'd could do
Comment posted by worldie, at 08:11 27 Mar 2017
Its the hope that kills you......
Comment posted by Jmac, at 05:50 27 Mar 2017
Gotta laugh at the deluded Sassenachs letting us know how bad they think we are when we already know it. but we don't have the ego and bluster that all those self important knowledgeable people from the south of Hadrians posses ,you know them they're that team who never won a game at the last World Cup ,came bottom of their section with 1 point ,that team that took on the mighty Iceland and failed
Comment posted by Oncha, at 05:18 27 Mar 2017
Scotland was very impressive and, if they continue with that zeal, they'll book a ticket . It was a huge improvement on their game against Canada. By the way, why do some fans always behave like they know it all. The reception they gave to Martin, the goal scorer, was nothing short of a disgrace to those fans. Glad he took that chance very nicely and showed what a top professional he is.
Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:21 27 Mar 2017
@31 Yes you will qualify, get battered by Russians several times a day and lose narrowly to the likes of Bosnia or Greece on penalties in the last 16...wonderful, keep us entertained...please.
Comment posted by Rabonec, at 10:59 27 Mar 2017
Excellent performance from Scotland as a team, I don't think I've seen us snuff out an opposition so efficiently and we were an attacking joy in the first half. That makes us the only team this campaign to take 3 points from Slovenia - hopefully we can mirror that away from home too.

Tactically spot on last night and the game was won in midfield. Happy to have Strachan in if we play like that.
Comment posted by I8Freshfruit, at 07:54 27 Mar 2017
The fans were maybe reacting to Gordan Strachan's decision to use Martin as a sub at that time rather than to Martin himself.
Fantastic to see Scotland win. Only increases our hopes slightly but it's given me a spring in my step this morning despite losing an hour's sleep!
Comment posted by Clyde Built in the UK, at 06:45 27 Mar 2017
Scotland played well and deserved the victory. Sets up the June match v England as a proper contest. England can't afford to lose now, which they cdve done if Scotland hadn't gained momentum tonight. But booing on a substitute was shameful by the Tartan Army. No excuses for that,especially as he got the winner. Chesney was 5 minutes from the sack, but realistically that day has only been postponed
Comment posted by Abershandy, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017
Perhaps they booed Martin as a protest at Strachan's continual habit of picking English people who's grannny used to have a west highland terrier instead of looking at the spfl form players
Comment posted by mcr, at 02:37 27 Mar 2017
#31 Davy bones

Enjoy Russia - as much as they enjoy you x
Romania, Portugal, 1967, Iceland (yes iceland), Norway, this list is endless and the rest of the world enjoys every second of each of those 90 mins x
Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:05 27 Mar 2017
@25 Deluded ..go away, it should have been at least 4-0 Slovenia-England and that was down to England being mince. You have players who will skitter their y's at Hampden and a butterfingers keeper with serious dandruff by his own admission.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	France	5	4	1	0	10	3	7	13
2	Sweden	5	3	1	1	10	3	7	10
3	Bulgaria	5	3	0	2	8	10	-2	9
4	Netherlands	5	2	1	2	8	6	2	7
5	Belarus	5	0	2	3	2	10	-8	2
6	Luxembourg	5	0	1	4	6	12	-6	1

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Switzerland	5	5	0	0	10	3	7	15
2	Portugal	5	4	0	1	19	3	16	12
3	Hungary	5	2	1	2	8	6	2	7
4	Faroe Islands	5	1	2	2	2	8	-6	5
5	Latvia	5	1	0	4	2	9	-7	3
6	Andorra	5	0	1	4	1	13	-12	1

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Germany	5	5	0	0	20	1	19	15
2	Northern Ireland	5	3	1	1	10	2	8	10
3	Czech Rep	5	2	2	1	8	4	4	8
4	Azerbaijan	5	2	1	2	3	8	-5	7
5	Norway	5	1	0	4	5	9	-4	3
6	San Marino	5	0	0	5	1	23	-22	0

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Serbia	5	3	2	0	12	6	6	11
2	R. of Ireland	5	3	2	0	7	3	4	11
3	Wales	5	1	4	0	8	4	4	7
4	Austria	5	2	1	2	8	7	1	7
5	Georgia	5	0	2	3	4	8	-4	2
6	Moldova	5	0	1	4	2	13	-11	1

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Poland	5	4	1	0	12	6	6	13
2	Montenegro	5	2	1	2	10	6	4	7
3	Denmark	5	2	1	2	7	5	2	7
4	Romania	5	1	3	1	6	4	2	6
5	Armenia	5	2	0	3	6	10	-4	6
6	Kazakhstan	5	0	2	3	3	13	-10	2

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	England	5	4	1	0	8	0	8	13
2	Slovakia	5	3	0	2	10	3	7	9
3	Slovenia	5	2	2	1	4	3	1	8
4	Scotland	5	2	1	2	7	8	-1	7
5	Lithuania	5	1	2	2	5	9	-4	5
6	Malta	5	0	0	5	2	13	-11	0

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Spain	5	4	1	0	19	2	17	13
2	Italy	5	4	1	0	13	4	9	13
3	Israel	5	3	0	2	9	9	0	9
4	Albania	5	2	0	3	4	8	-4	6
5	North Macedonia	5	1	0	4	7	11	-4	3
6	Liechtenstein	5	0	0	5	1	19	-18	0

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Belgium	5	4	1	0	22	2	20	13
2	Greece	5	3	2	0	10	3	7	11
3	Bos-Herze	5	3	1	1	13	5	8	10
4	Cyprus	5	1	1	3	3	8	-5	4
5	Estonia	5	1	1	3	5	15	-10	4
6	Gibraltar	5	0	0	5	2	22	-20	0

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Croatia	5	4	1	0	11	1	10	13
2	Iceland	5	3	1	1	8	6	2	10
3	Ukraine	5	2	2	1	7	4	3	8
4	Turkey	5	2	2	1	7	5	2	8
5	Finland	5	0	1	4	3	8	-5	1
6	Kosovo	5	0	1	4	2	14	-12	1

Scots come out fighting

The Griffiths show

Strachan fights on

Line-ups

Scotland

Substitutes

Slovenia

Substitutes

Match Stats

Live Text

Comments

Join the conversation

Comment posted by Camy, at 00:40 27 Mar 2017Camy

Comment posted by ian, at 23:33 26 Mar 2017ian

Comment posted by ian, at 23:14 26 Mar 2017ian

Comment posted by U16519336, at 05:05 27 Mar 2017U16519336

Comment posted by morebalanceplease, at 07:01 27 Mar 2017morebalanceplease

Comment posted by ian, at 00:03 27 Mar 2017ian

Comment posted by comments 21, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017comments 21

Comment posted by norsefox, at 23:28 26 Mar 2017norsefox

Comment posted by wee Bill Harris, at 23:35 26 Mar 2017wee Bill Harris

Comment posted by U14954189, at 23:36 26 Mar 2017U14954189

Comment posted by worldie, at 08:11 27 Mar 2017worldie

Comment posted by Jmac, at 05:50 27 Mar 2017Jmac

Comment posted by Oncha, at 05:18 27 Mar 2017Oncha

Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:21 27 Mar 2017U16663265

Comment posted by Rabonec, at 10:59 27 Mar 2017Rabonec

Comment posted by I8Freshfruit, at 07:54 27 Mar 2017I8Freshfruit

Comment posted by Clyde Built in the UK, at 06:45 27 Mar 2017Clyde Built in the UK

Comment posted by Abershandy, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017Abershandy

Comment posted by mcr, at 02:37 27 Mar 2017mcr

Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:05 27 Mar 2017U16663265

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Sunday 26th March 2017

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Comment posted by Camy, at 00:40 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by ian, at 23:33 26 Mar 2017

Comment posted by ian, at 23:14 26 Mar 2017

Comment posted by U16519336, at 05:05 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by morebalanceplease, at 07:01 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by ian, at 00:03 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by comments 21, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by norsefox, at 23:28 26 Mar 2017

Comment posted by wee Bill Harris, at 23:35 26 Mar 2017

Comment posted by U14954189, at 23:36 26 Mar 2017

Comment posted by worldie, at 08:11 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by Jmac, at 05:50 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by Oncha, at 05:18 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:21 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by Rabonec, at 10:59 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by I8Freshfruit, at 07:54 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by Clyde Built in the UK, at 06:45 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by Abershandy, at 08:00 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by mcr, at 02:37 27 Mar 2017

Comment posted by U16663265, at 00:05 27 Mar 2017