ON the day a minor earthquake had left the residents of Tbilisi shaken, cracks started to appear in Scotland’s bid to reach the Euro 2016 finals.
Gordon Strachan’s side produced by far and away their worst performance in Group D to date against opponents they had been widely expected to defeat comfortably and so take another major stride towards France next summer.
The 1-0 loss they slumped to against Georgia at the end of a frustrating 90 minutes was a hugely damaging result which will have serious consequences for their prospects of progressing either automatically or via the play-offs.
A first half goal by Valeri Kazaishvili was all that separated the two sides at the end of a game Kakhaber Tskhadadze deserves great credit for orchestrating. But at no stage did Strachan’s charges look capable of levelling.
Scotland have just three games remaining. They take on Germany at Hampden on Monday and then Poland at home and Gibraltar away next month. The meeting with the world champions next week is not an especially appealing prospect given the paucity of the all-round display here.
They were strangely flat and devoid of creativity. The temperature the game was played in was not particularly oppressive and should not be used as a an excuse. Changes will have to be made to the starting line-up and new players introduced if the national team is to stand any chance of getting a result against Joachin Loew’s side.
As had been widely expected, Strachan restored Ikechi Anya and Andy Robertson – who were both omitted against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin back in June – on the left side of midfield and at left back respectively to his starting line-up. It was a positive and attacking side.
The manager admitted he had over-thought his team selection for the game in the Aviva Stadium at the end of last season. He did not make the same mistake here. He dropped Craig Forsyth and Matt Ritchie and picked what most supporters would agree was his strongest team.
But Scotland suffered a serious scare in just the third minute after Steven Naismith lost possession deep in the Georgia half. Kazaishvili broke upfield and was supported by Levan Mchedlidze and Tornike Okriashvili.
With just Russell Martin and Charlie Mulgrew back defending, Kazaishvili clearly just needed to feed one of his team mates and they would have been through on goal with only David Marshall to beat. Inexplicably, he tried his luck from long range and his weak attempt was easily gathered by the goalkeeper. It gave a flavour of what was to come.
The 2,000 or so travelling supporters who were packed in to the stand behind the Georgia goal appealed for a penalty after 14th minute when Naismith went to ground after challenging Giorgi Navalovsky for a Robertson cross. The referee ignored their rather optimistic pleas.
A Georgian team which had not won a point at home retained the ball well. Their passing was precise and their movement off the ball was constant. They could, though, not break down the Scotland defence despite applying considerable pressure. It made the goal hard to bear when it came.
Mchedlidze shot from 25 yards out in the 19th minute. But his effort skidded well wide of its intended target. Scotland appeared alert to the threat their rivals posed going forward and marshalled them effectively.
Robertson showed why his manager had brought him back into the fold. The Hull City man got up the left flank regularly to complement his side’s attacks. His deliveries into the box looked the most likely to create an opening. But Steven Fletcher was unable to connect with any of his balls into the box.
Kazaishvili took his goal well. He received the ball from Mcedlidze, brought it onto his favoured left foot and then unleashed a low drive which Marshall was unable to get a hand to. But the Vitesse midfielder was afforded time and space to get his shot away in a dangerous area by a defence which stood off him.
Scotland came out with, no doubt after a dressing down from their incensed manager, a renewed vigour in the second half. But Georgia got another shot on target just three minutes after the restart when Mchedlidze diverted a Jano Ananidze pass towards goal. Marshall did well to hold the awkward close-range strike.
Anya made some searing breaks down the left wing but was unable to engineer an opening and Fletcher struck the post before being ruled offside by the assistant referee. Strachan took action and replaced Robertson with Gran Hanley – the defender went at centre half and Mulgrew switched to left back – and Naismith with James Forrest.
Naismith had failed to make his presence felt during his time on the pitch. The Everton man is, on his day, such an important player for his country. His ability to win the ball in the air, his work rate and his physicality can be difficult for defences to counter. There was, as ever, no shortage of effort from the forward. But he did not produce his finest display in a dark blue shirt. He was not alone.
The replacements made no discernible difference to Scotland’s play. Marshall once again had to be alert to palm a Mchedlidze shot from the edge of the penalty box over the crossbar in the 68th minute.
Leigh Griffiths came on for Anya and played through the middle alongside Fletcher. He received virtually no service from Forrest, Shaun Maloney or James Morrison behind him. Scotland’s attacking play was lacking in imagination against a Georgia team which defended robustly.
Nukri Revishvili had been drafted in for this game due to regular keeper Giorgi Loria being without a club and lacking competitive games. But he was hardly tested by toothless adversaries who failed to find the spark they had shown in earlier outings.
Hanley at least connected with a Mulgrew corner in injury-time. But his header sailed wide and the home team held on for their second win of what had previously been a disappointing campaign.
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