An early goal gave Scotland the comfort they were looking for and paved the way for an easy 2-0 win against Malta in a World Cup 2018 qualifier played in Glasgow this evening.
The victory gave the Scots a better chance to finish the group as runners-up after England beat Slovakia 2-1. Scotland, together with Slovenia – who beat Lithuania – are now just one point behind Slovakia with two games to go.
Christophe Berra (below) scored the opening goal for Scotland after only eight minutes, heading home past the helpless Hogg off a corner.
The game evened out for long stretches as Scotland were happy to maintain the advantage without pressing the Maltese too much. The better chances, of course, went to Scotland but Malta survived several scares to maintain a 0-1 disadvantage at the change of ends.
But the Scots soon added a second goal upon the resumption, with Leigh Griffiths (below) netting from a short distance after the ball had hit the post.
Scotland maintained their overall superiority for the rest of the match, but Malta defended in numbers to keep them at bay. This time, there were no lapses in the dying stages of the game, as happened last Friday against England when Malta conceded three goals as from the 86th minute.