SUBSTITUTE Oliver Burke struck a dramatic late winner with just a minute of regulation time remaining to give Scotland a nail-biting win over Cyprus in Steve Clarke’s first game in charge and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2020 finals automatically.
A sensational Andy Robertson goal in the second-half looked to have secured the the victory the national team needed to get their Group I campaign back on track.
Robertson, playing a week after helping Liverpool defeat Spurs in the Champions League final in Madrid, fired an unstoppable left foot shot into the top right corner of the goal from fully 25 yards out in the 61st minute.
But Clarke’s men conceded a shocking goal at a Cyprus corner with just three minutes remaining when Ioannis Kousoulos got away from Robertson and headed in a Anthony Georgiou cross.
A draw would have dealt a hammer blow to Scotland’s chances of reaching their first major tournament since France ’98.
But Burke, the West Brom player who spent the second half of the season on loan at Celtic, struck little over a minute later after coming on for Eamonn Brophy.
He got on the end of a Ryan Fraser corner from the left and headed beyond goalkeeper Urko Pardo. His attempt struck the upright, but he made no mistake with the rebound.
It was the 22-year-old’s first goal at international level and could prove to be an important one. It sent his side, who face Belgium in Brussels on Tuesday night, up to third place in their section, level on points with second-placed Russia.
Clarke sprang a few surprises in his first starting line-up – out went goalkeeper Scott Bain, midfielder Stuart Armstrong and forward Johnny Russell. David Marshall, Charlie Mulgrew, John McGinn and Brophy, who made his debut for his country, came in.
Only four of the players who started in the 3-0 defeat to Kazakhstan back in March – James Forrest, Scott McKenna, McGinn and Callum McGregor.
Clarke kept faith with the 4-3-3 formation that his predecessor Alex McLeish had latterly favoured and it worked well for them.
Fraser and Forrest linked well to set up a chance early on. The Celtic winger shot just over from the edge of the Cyprus penalty box.
The home side were largely untroubled defensively. Antreas Makris got a shot on target in the 18th minute after the visitors counter attacked, but Marshall dealt with his effort comfortably.
Scotland were awarded a penalty within shooting range by Norwegian referee Ola Hobber Nilsen in the 27th minute after Nicholas Ioannou brought down McGinn.
Dead ball specialist Mulgrew stepped forward to take it and whipped a low shot over the defensive wall which Cyprus keeper Urko Pardo did well to push wide. Brophy then headed a McGinn delivery just past the post From the resultant corner.
Scotland had a strong claim for a penalty ignored by Nilsen six minutes before half-time when Ioannis Kousoulos appeared to deliberately block an Andy Robertson cross with his arm.
However, Clarke’s men had a Marshall save from a Pieros Sotiriou shot a minute later to thank for keeping them level. It was an underwhelming 45 minutes of football from them.
Skipper Robertson had been bright, McGregor had made some decent passes and Marshall, making his first start at international level in nearly three years had justified his selection. But the all-round performance had been flat.
Forrest did brilliantly to burrow his way past Michalis and Nicholas Ioannou and into the Cypriot box just four minutes into the second-half. But Brophy, lurking just in front of goal, failed to get on the end of his cut back.
Kostas Laifis split the Scotland defence with a penetrating pass four minutes after that and Marshall again did well to block an attempt from Matija. Things were starting to look decidedly ominous for Clarke’s charges.
It took Robertson’s moment of magic to break the deadlock. His strike gave the crowd a lift and chants of “Andy Robertson” rang out around the stadium for several minutes afterwards.
Pardo spilled a McGregor shot shortly after the goal and it looked as if Scotland were going to kill their opponents off. But a Makris effort in the 77th minute deflected off McKenna and Marshall did well to tip it over the crossbar.
Stephen O’Donnell had a chance to sew up the victory a minute later after being supplied by Fraser. But the Kilmarnock right back’s shot went agonisingly wide of its intended target.
Clarke put on Oliver Burke for Brophy, Scott McTominay for McGinn and Stuart Armstrong for McGregor in the closing minutes. Burke grabbed the late winner to send the Tartan Army home happy.
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