LAST UPDATE | 16 Nov 2023
LAWRENCE SHANKLAND HEADED a stoppage-time equaliser as Scotland averted more torment in Tbilisi with a 2-2 draw against Georgia.
The Hearts striker was a late call-up for the injured Che Adams and seized his chance when he headed home fellow substitute Stuart Armstrong’s cross two minutes into added time.
Scott McTominay earlier took his Euro 2024 qualifying campaign tally to seven goals when he cancelled out the first of two strikes from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
The Napoli winger proved a threat all night, but Scotland contributed to their own problems with a slack first 45 minutes.
McTominay drilled home from 20 yards four minutes after the restart and, after quickly falling behind again, Scotland finished strongly to prevent a fourth consecutive defeat in Clarke’s 50th game in charge.
Scotland had lost on their two previous visits to the Boris Paichadze stadium, defeats which proved very costly in otherwise promising attempts to qualify for the European Championships of 2008 and 2016.
And, while Clarke’s side had booked their trip to Germany with two games to spare, they were looking to boost their chances of sealing a place among the pot two seeds for next month’s draw.
Georgia, who had only lost four of their previous 20 games, also had plenty to play for given they will be in the play-offs in March courtesy of their Nations League performances, and a crowd of 44,595 plus some needle on the pitch gave the game a competitive edge.
In the same group Spain, who have also already booked their ticket, were comfortable 3-1 winners in Cyprus as 16-year-old Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal scored first for the Spanish in the fifth minute.
Yamal had become Spain’s youngest player and scorer in a 7-1 qualifying win against Georgia in September and on Thursday he rounded the goalkeeper and smashed home the opener.
Elsewhere, Hungary clinched their ticket for Euro 2024 thanks to an own goal from Bulgaria’s Alex Petkov deep in stoppage time, which gave the Hungarians a 2-2 draw in Sofia.
The visitors only needed a point to qualify for the finals in Germany but were 2-1 down before Petkov allowed a cross to skid off the top of his head and into his own net in the 97th minute.
The Hungarian players exploded in joy at the end of a match played in an empty stadium because of fears of violence.
Ten Bulgarian fans protesting against their own football federation and five police were hurt in clashes outside the national stadium. Police also used water cannon.
The draw gave Hungary 15 points from seven games in Group G of European qualifying, two ahead of Serbia.
Finally, Slovakia also qualified by beating Iceland 4-2 in Bratislava.
Lukas Haraslin scored twice for the Slovaks as they won to guarantee second place behind Portugal in Group J.
They join host nation Germany, Austria, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Turkey as the teams qualified so far for next year’s finals.
Additional reporting – © AFP 2023
