The win over Lithuania at Hampden was fraught with danger at times and
probably more flattering than the home nation deserved, but three crucial
qualifying points ensures the momentum continues ahead of Wednesday's meeting
with France.
Goals from Kris Boyd, Stephen McManus and James McFadden earned the trio
national hero status, while a dubious penalty converted by Tomas Danilevicius
will no doubt prompt questions when the euphoria has subsided.
Alan Hutton and Jay McEveley both made their first starts in the full-back
positions, although the decision most likely to have raised eyebrows ahead of
the game was the inclusion of Gary Teale on the right of midfield. There was no
place for Paul Hartley or McFadden in the starting line-up.
Lithuanian coach Algimantas Liubinskas had named six Hearts players in his
squad but only two started at Hampden, Deividas Cesnauskis and Andrius Velicka,
plus former Dunfermline centre-half Andrius Skerla.
That 52,000 tickets were snapped up for the visit of one of the less glamorous
nations in the tournament demonstrated just how far Scottish expectations have
risen from a few years ago when less than half that amount would have made the
journey to the national stadium.
The action on the park was far from inspirational early on. A Lithuania
free-kick could have caused problems when Scott Brown was deemed to have fouled
Danilevicius a few yards outside the box.
Mindaugas Kalonas was wasteful with the set-piece but was given the
opportunity to make amends when the ball pinged back into his path. However,
Craig Gordon was never really troubled by an effort screwed well over the
crossbar.
Velicka then indulged in gamesmanship in a bid to earn the visitors a foothold
in the game by going to ground twice in the box following challenges from Davie
Weir.
But the Hearts man, whose antics last season saw Falkirk's Darren Barr wrongly
dismissed in a league match, failed to impress the official.
The first real incident of note from Scotland arrived with 20 minutes gone and
Lithuania would surely have found themselves in arrears had it not been for the
heroics of their goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas.
He pulled off a superb double save to firstly prevent Boyd's header nestling
in the net, before pawing a Lee McCulloch follow-up to safety. McCulloch,
though, should have made more of the opportunity.
When the breakthrough came after 31 minutes, it even caught McLeish by
surprise. The Scotland manager was busily scribbling in his notepad, perhaps
pondering whether to tweak his system, when Boyd claimed the opener.
Darren Fletcher - who had retained the captaincy in the absence of the
suspended Barry Ferguson - delivered a tantalising free-kick from the right into
the box and the Rangers striker out-muscled Skerla to connect with the header,
which he bulleted past Karcemarskas.
Boyd then passed up a couple of chances to double his haul before half-time. A
left-footed volley prompted a one-handed save from Karcemarskas before an
enticing through-ball from Fletcher saw Boyd wastefully smash his shot off the
body of the onrushing goalkeeper.
Two Hearts players, Saulius Mikoliunas and Audrius Ksanavicius, were thrown
into the action after the break and the Tynecastle connection intensified when
former Hearts striker Edgaras Jankauskas replaced Marius Stankevicius, who was
withdrawn shortly after the restart after appearing to land awkwardly on his
arm.
Mikoliunas had an almost instant, and devastating, impact on the game.
Blatantly throwing himself to the ground under pressure from Fletcher, he
earned an extremely dubious penalty with 59 minutes gone, deceiving 31-year-old
referee Damir Skomina.
Danilevicius stepped up to convert from 12 yards to restore parity.
McFadden then bounded off the bench, replacing Teale, with the intention of
restoring Scotland's lead but it was McManus who was next to threaten.
His header was saved at the keeper's right-hand post before he resumed his
defensive duties at the other end by blocking a goalbound effort from Kalonas.
McManus' near-miss proved to be a preview of what was to come from the Celtic
captain. McLeish went for broke by introducing Craig Beattie and Shaun Maloney.
Aston Villa man Maloney, with his first touch, lobbed Fletcher's short corner
to the back post, where McManus was waiting to rifle home with 13 minutes
remaining.
Any hope of a second Lithuania comeback was snuffed out seven minutes from
time when McFadden's 25-yard curling left-footed drive nestled in the back of
the Lithuania net.
Paris, and World Cup runners-up France, now await Scotland's challenge.
Scotland 3 - 1 Lithuania
