A4 OFICAIL HAMPDEN PARK PRESS TEAM SHEET
So much for tight, grim affairs between Scotland and Israel. A seventh meeting in three years broke the mould of anything that had come before. This was a breathless encounter, a game for the ages, befitting the long-awaited return of a capacity crowd to this stadium.
The final act was the defining one. Scott McTominay knew little about the goal which sent Scotland to within touching distance of a World Cup play-off. He bundled a John McGinn corner home to send Steve Clarke into raptures. Scotland now lead Israel by four points in Group F and, should Clarke’s men see off the Faroe Islands and Moldova in upcoming fixtures, second place behind Denmark will be theirs. The visit of the Danes to Glasgow in November would, in that situation, be irrelevant.
 
“We left the goal a bit late for everyone’s blood pressure,” said Clarke with a smile. “Fifty-thousand fans staying right to the death was amazing. It was a strange night – not really like any other game we’ve played against Israel.”
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Eran Zahavi had given Israel the lead. McGinn hauled Scotland back into proceedings. Mu’nas Dabbur edged the visitors in front again, before Lyndon Dykes saw his Scotland penalty saved. Dykes atoned by delivering the game’s fourth goal, with some assistance from VAR. Matters had settled down to a dull roar before McTominay’s finest moment in Scotland colours.
The spirit is such within this Scotland camp that there was a sense, legitimately as it transpired, that they could snatch victory. Halfway through six minutes of stoppage time came the kind of moment that defines successful campaigns.