Scotland bolster play-off chances with routine win over Malta

Scotland further bolstered their chances of snatching a World Cup qualifying play-off place with a routine 2-0 win over Malta at Hampden Park.

Gordon Strachan’s side gave themselves a platform with an impressive 3-0 win over Lithuania on Friday night, building on that with a comfortable win over Malta to move within a single point of Slovakia - who lost 2-1 to England at Wembley - in second place in Group F.

Christophe Berra opened the scoring after only 10 minutes, powering home a header from a Leigh Griffiths corner kick. From then on, the home side were rarely challenged, doubling the lead in the second half through Griffiths, who reacted quickest to James Morrison hitting the post, finishing from close range.

Scotland now welcome Slovakia to Hampden next month in what will be a crunch qualifier before travelling to Slovenia for the final game of the group. The campaign as a whole will come down to those two games for Strachan’s men, who know two wins will secure a play-off place against the odds.

Cast your mind back to March, when Scotland were five minutes away from being all but out of World Cup qualification. Chris Martin scored a late winner against Slovenia and Strachan’s side have put together something of a resurgence, winning three from four games and drawing the other against England. So are Scotland peaking at the right time in their efforts to qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 20 years? The answer must be yes, and they also have momentum ahead of what is arguably their biggest match since facing Italy knowing a win could have taken them to the Euro 2008 finals.

The 25-year-old has struggled for form at Celtic due to contract talks with the Scottish champion, but Armstrong has underlined his importance to the national team over the past two weeks, turning in two impressive performances against Lithuania and Malta. Armstrong is the embodiment of Scotland’s faster, more dynamic team in 2017 and this was another display to highlight his quality, even if he didn’t find the net.

Scotland - Gordon 5, Tierney 6, Mulgrew 5, Berra 7, Robertson 8, Brown 6, McArthur 5, Armstrong 8, Forrest 6, Phillips 7, Griffiths 7. Subs - Morrison 6, Martin 5.

Malta - Hogg 7, Magri 6, Borg 5, Agius 5, Fenech 5, Schembri 6, Muscat 5, Kristensen 5, Zerafa 4, Effiong 7, Pisani 5. Subs - Fenech 5, Gambin 5, Muscat 5.

8’ BIG CHANCE FOR MCARTHUR! The goalkeeper made a mess of a cross into the box, with the ball dropping to the edge of the box, but McArthur saw his shot blocked 18 yards out.

9’ GOOD SAVE! Griffiths' initial shot breaks to Forrest, who fires a low drive towards goal, but Hogg gets down well to make the diving save. That was a decent effort from the Celtic winger.

10’ GOAL! Scotland 1-0 Malta: There's the opener to settle some nerves inside Hampden! Berra leaps highest at the back post to power home a header from a Griffiths corner kick delivery. Good goal from the centre back.

49’ GOAL! Scotland 2-0 Malta: There's the second goal and Scotland finally have a bit of breathing room! Armstrong slips in Robertson, who crosses into Morrison. He hits the post, but Griffiths was on hand to finish from close range.

54’ DIVING SAVE FROM HOGG! Phillips creates the shooting opportunity for Forrest, who takes the shot from the edge of the box, but the Malta keeper gets down well to turn it round the post.

86’ ARMSTRONG SHOT IS SAVED! The Scotland midfielder bursts through the centre of midfield, but sees his effort from distance saved by Hogg. There was some power in that strike.

Leigh Griffiths has been directly involved in six of Scotland's last seven goals in World Cup qualifying (3 goals, 3 assists).

Andy Robertson was the only surviver from the Scotland team that started against Malta last year. Back then there were no Celtic players in the lineup. Today, there were six.