Ferguson is Scotland’s hero as they fight back to steal vital victory over Greece

Maybe, just maybe, Scotland will end their painful wait. If the nature of this win over Greece counts, someone is smiling favourably on Steve Clarke’s bid to lead his country to a first World Cup since 1998. Greece were superior to the Scots in so many departments here yet still lost. Lewis Ferguson’s first strike for his country and Lyndon Dykes, who scored in stoppage time, have Clarke daring to dream. It was victory that mattered here, not how it was achieved, which is just as well. Assessment of this Scotland team is not particularly easy. Euphoria swept the country as Clarke led his men to the last European Championship. Epic disappointment was not only the theme in Germany but again as the Scots returned for Nations League action. Scotland rallied impressively in that group before a comprehensive defeat by Greece in a playoff. Related: England v Wales: international football friendly – live Four points out of a possible six when Scotland began their World Cup campaign represented a fine return and enhanced the mood around the national side once again. Greece’s performance in swaggering to a 3-0 win in Glasgow in March meant Scotland should have been forewarned and forearmed. Ivan Jovanovic had won five away games out of five as the Greece manager before this tie. This felt a tricky match to call. Greece handed Scotland a boost by leaving Konstantinos Karetsas on the bench, with the outstanding attacker recovering from illness. The visitors should, though, have been ahead inside eight minutes. Tasos Bakasetas played a delightful ball across the face of goal, with Vangelis Pavlidis inexplicably failing to tap home. Greece tormented their hosts in wide areas during the opening exchanges. Although that brought no tangible reward, the atmosphere was noticeably flat for that first half hour. Scotland offered no attacking threat whatsoever, a scenario due largely to the intensity of the Greek press. The Scots were suffocated. A yellow card issued, harshly, to Christos Zafeiris for apparently diving on the edge of the Scotland penalty area was the only other notable aspect of the first period. Ferguson’s challenge on Zafeiris was not a foul but the Slavia Prague loanee hardly embellished the situation. That aside, Greece had cause to be by far the happier at the interval. Clarke resisted what must have been strong temptation to implement change during the break. Ben Gannon-Doak, brought into the team to supply ammunition from the left side of the forward line, had been peripheral. Scotland’s first-half XG was 0.06. In fairness to the manager, his bench was not rich in game-altering talent. Within 90 seconds of the restart, Pavlidis had another opportunity; this time he headed over from eight yards. Hampden moaned and groaned. The frustration turned to audible anger as Giorgos Masouras shanked Greece’s next chance over Angus Gunn’s crossbar. Scotland, a team seeking to create history, still had not had a meaningful attempt at goal. Clarke needed to roll the dice before his team fell behind. Scotland’s first change was an enforced one. Aaron Hickey, who has endured a horrible time with injury, pulled up holding his left hamstring. The Brentford full-back could last no longer than the 58th minute. As Anthony Ralston replaced Hickey, Clarke also took the opportunity to introduce Billy Gilmour for Gannon-Doak. The switch was not met positively in the stands, such has been Gannon-Doak’s rise. Gilmour’s arrival with a view to earning at least a modicum of midfield control was perfectly sensible. A change in personnel failed to have the immediate impact Clarke had craved as Greece took the lead they merited. It was, though, to be a shortlived one. Neat interplay between Christos Tzolis and Bakasetas preceded a Pavlidis shot that was blocked by John Souttar. Kostas Tsimikas pounced on the rebound to find the back of Gunn’s net. Now Scotland were under serious pressure. Their response was barely in keeping with anything that came before. Greece failed to properly clear a corner, with Grant Hanley’s header back into the penalty area not dealt with by Ntinos Mavropanos. This time it was Ryan Christie who collected a loose ball to restore parity. Scotland survived a lengthy check by the video assistant referee for offside. Che Adams latched on to Gilmour free-kick but fluffed his lines. With 15 minutes to play, this was an end-to-end contest. Ferguson’s say was the deciding one, high into the net after Greece made a mess of dealing with an inswinging Andy Robertson free-kick. Dykes added gloss after a howler from Kostas Tzolakis in the Greece goal. If you cannot be good, be lucky.