EVENTS elsewhere last night were just as important to Scotland’s hopes of finishing second in Group F and securing that coveted Russia 2018 play-off place as this match against the section’s bottom-placed team.

By a strange quirk of fate, Gordon Strachan and his players required the England side they had been left so distraught at their failure to beat just a few months ago to do them a turn in their match against Slovakia.

Gareth Southgate’s men duly obliged at Wembley, but only after falling behind early on and giving everyone up the road an awful fright, to all but secure their place in the next World Cup finals.

Goals from Christophe Berra in the first half and Leigh Griffiths in the second, meanwhile, ensured Scotland followed up on their impressive 3-0 win over Lithuania in Vilnius on Friday evening with a 2-0 triumph against Malta.

It had been 10 long years – since the games against Lithuania at home and France away in an ill-fated Euro 2008 qualifying campaign – since Scotland had won both games of a competitive double header before last night.

They must now emulate the four game winning run which they went on back then – those triumphs were sandwiched in between defeats of the Faroe Islands and Ukraine – if they hope to achieve their goal.

Scotland have never, not even in the halcyon days of Jim Baxter, Dave Mackay, Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness, won four World Cup qualifiers in succession in the same campaign. But after four massively encouraging displays and two comfortable victories it is certainly not the stuff of fantasy. Hope, as always, spring eternal.

There have been a few great nights as this much-maligned stadium over the decades; the meetings with Czechoslovakia in 1973, France in 1989, the Netherlands in 2003, Italy in 2007 and Poland in 2015 are seared in the memories of any supporter who was in attendance.

The game against Slovakia – now just a solitary point clear in second place - on Thursday, October 5, promises to be every bit as compelling, exciting and incendiary as any one of those famous occasions. Get your tickets now.

Of as much concern to Scotland as getting a result against Malta, who went into this game having scored just two goals and conceded no fewer than 19 in the process of losing all seven of their previous qualifiers, was the players who were on yellow cards avoiding bookings.

Scott Brown, the captain, Grant Hanley, James McArthur, Charlie Mulgrew and Griffiths were all one caution away from missing the crucial encounter with Jan Kozak’s side and had been sent onto the field with strict instructions not to incur the displeasure of referee Jakob Kehlet.

Brown, as is his wont, got involved in an inadvisable tussle with Alfred Effiong early in the second half and could have had few complaints if his name had been taken by the match official as a result.

But the midfielder and all of his team mates will now, barring injury, be available for their next outing and then the final group game against Slovenia, who edged ahead of Scotland on goal difference after beating Lithuania 4-0 in Ljubljana, after that.

A half-full stadium was shown replays of both Griffiths’s free-kicks in the 2-2 draw with England back in June and the Stuart Armstrong, Andy Robertson and McArthur goals in the 3-0 win over Lithuania on Friday night in a clear attempt to improve a decidedly subdued atmosphere.

Scotland, though, lifted those fans who had stumped up £35 to see the meeting with opponents ranked 190th in the FIFA world rankings by making a blistering start. Armstrong went close, Griffiths and McArthur had shots blocked in the penalty box and Robertson had a a shot deflected wide.

The home team edged in front from the resultant corner in the ninth minute. Christophe Berra rose high above Samuel Magri and nodded a Griffiths corner beyond Andrew Hogg to claim his fourth goal for his country on the occasion of his 37th cap.

The Hearts defender has, despite being left footed like his centre back partner Charlie Mulgrew, been preferred to both Grant Hanley and Russell Martin in the last three qualifiers and has more than justified his selection. He was once again commanding in the air and posed a threat at every set piece his side won. Scoring will have cemented his position for the foreseeable future.

Strachan kept faith with the same starting line-up which did so well against Lithuania despite predictions he may replace James Forrest, who had not been at his best three days earlier, with Matt Ritchie, who had done well after coming on in the previous game.

They pretty much picked up where they had left off and only some desperate defending from their spirited rivals prevented them from building on their lead. Malta, to their credit, got up the park themselves, but at no stage did they look in danger of netting.

Matt Phillips, the West Brom winger who retained his place on the left flank, forced an instinctive one-handed block from Hogg just before half-time with a long-range shot.

Phillips’s club mate James Morrison, who was overlooked for the initial squad due to the fact he had been sidelined with an injury and was only called in after Tom Cairney pulled out, took over from McArthur in central midfield at the start of the second half. He made his presence felt immediately.

Morrison’s shot, with a little help from the outstretched leg of Zach Muscat, struck the left post in the 49th minute and Griffiths pounced on the rebound and netted from a few yards out. It was not quite as spectacular as his last goal at the same venue, but was every bit as important.

Mulgrew limped off injured and was replaced by Hanley while Griffiths also picked up a knock and made way for Chris Martin. Craig Gordon, one of Celtic Celtic players involved, saved well from Joseph Zerafa in the 76th minute. But the result was never in any doubt.