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Substitute James McArthur’s late header salvaged a draw against Lithuania to avoid a potentially major blow to Scotland’s World Cup qualifying hopes.
Grant Hanley and Callum Paterson went close with first-half headers while Robert Snodgrass and Chris Martin also had chances before Lithuania struck.
Fedor Cernych finished a slick move in the 58th minute with a powerful right-foot strike into the bottom corner.
But McArthur headed home home Hanley’s flick-on to avoid a humiliating defeat.
Scotland, ranked 44th in the world, were second-best for a worryingly long time in the opening half. It wasn’t that Lithuania – ranked 117 – were causing trouble, but they were more organised, more aggressive and they hustled and harried Scotland into an error-prone beginning.
Chris Martin had the Scots’ one half-decent chance when volleying wide at the back post. There was hard-running from Oliver Burke as well.
None of this unsettled Lithuania unduly. Scotland were flat. Little or nothing was seen from Robert Snodgrass and Matt Ritchie, Darren Fletcher and Barry Bannan.
Strachan withdrew his injured captain, Fletcher, at the break and brought on James McArthur.
Within two minutes Scotland had their first almighty scare when Arvydas Novikovas shot on the turn and forced a save from David Marshall.
That was the warning. Briefly, Scotland rallied. Andrew Robertson got himself into dangerous areas going forward and started to make things happen. Snodgrass had a goal-bound shot blocked down. Martin, from a Robertson cross, flashed a header just wide.
Just when you thought that Scotland were beginning to scale the mountain, they fell off.
Lithuania’s goal was a delight, a clever and cutting move the like of which Scotland were incapable of.
It was all about the interplay between Cernych and Vykintas Slivka. They sliced Scotland open, Slivka putting Cernych through on Marshall. He kept his cool and lashed it home.
Hampden quickly became an angst-ridden place; angry and nervous. Before the goal, James Forrest had come on for Oliver Burke – that was a puzzler, Burke was doing fine – and the Celtic man wasted a great chance after more fine work from Robertson.
This was stark now for Scotland. A win was a must if they were to harbour legitimate hopes of qualification. A draw would have been a desperate blow. A loss? It was the stuff of nightmares. Very few people thought it was a possible scenario.
The torture continued. Slapstick in the Scotland defence allowed Cernych in again. To all of Hampden it looked like he would score. As Hampden sat in dread, Cernych pulled it wide.
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Pavojingas epizodas ir įvartis! Fiodoras Černychas ir Lietuvos rinktinė įsiveržia į priekį rezultatu vienas nulis. 59 minutė
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