Scotland keep hopes alive

Scotland kept their World Cup hopes alive thanks to goals from Scott Brown and James McFadden against Macedonia.

Brown and McFadden goals see Scotland beat Macedonia 2-0

George Burley's Scotland kept their World Cup hopes alive thanks to second-half goals from Scott Brown and James McFadden against Macedonia. The visitors looked the livelier in the first half at Hampden Park, with Scotland keeper Craig Gordon pulling off good saves from Goran Pandev to keep his side level at the interval. Soon after the re-start, McFadden had a golden opportunity to put the Scots ahead but blasted well over from close range, while Gordon then saved again from Pandev after the striker had been played through on goal. Brown then opened the scoring in the 56th minute with a glancing header into the bottom left hand corner from a Steven Fletcher cross. Slavco Georgievski had a great chance to level for Macedonia but shot well over, while Steven Whittaker and Kenny Miller missed with efforts on goal at the other end. But McFadden put the issue beyond doubt in the 81st minute with a fine individual goal which saw him round keeper Jane Nikoloski before slotting home. The 2-0 result puts Scotland into second place in Group Nine ahead of another must-win game against runaway leaders Holland on Wednesday.

Pressure

Pressure had been mounting on Burley since last month's 4-0 thrashing in Norway left the nation's chances of qualifying for next summer's finals in South Africa in the balance and he knew defeat at Hampden on Saturday could have spelled the end of his tenure. Unsurprisingly, there were significant changes from the defeat in Norway. Gordon had recovered from injury to reclaim the gloves from David Marshall and veteran defender David Weir was recalled to the squad following his omission for the clash in Oslo. Stephen McManus made his first competitive outing since suffering a knee injury last season when he partnered Weir in the heart of defence and McFadden was back in the starting line-up after controversially being named on the bench last time. Simulation had dominated the headlines in recent weeks and German referee Wolfgang Stark was unimpressed when Pandev went to ground under minimal contact with just 25 seconds on the clock. However, less than a minute later, Macedonia's star striker had earned a free-kick just outside the box after being bundled over by Weir in a dangerous position. A short ball was played to Goce Sedloski but his effort cannoned off the body of Brown. The visitors continued to push for the goal that would deflate the near-capacity crowd and Gordon was called into action to produce a decent save and block from Pandev at his right-hand post. Scotland were forced to make a change with just 14 minutes gone when Callum Davidson left the action and was replaced by Whittaker. Brown had seen a decent effort whistle past the post earlier in the game and was threatening again when he ran onto a Darren Fletcher free-kick before racing into the box and rippling the side-netting with a well-struck shot. This may have been a must-win match for the home nation, and Burley in particular, but it was Macedonia who looked more likely to open the scoring in what was becoming an increasingly tense atmosphere at Hampden. The Scotland defence looked nervous and Gordon was forced to come to the rescue after McManus allowed Pandev through on goal, before the striker hooked over the crossbar after Weir failed to deal with a cross from the left. Gordon was then called into action again to block a 25-yard drive from Pandev, before Whittaker cleared the danger.

Furore

Just before the interval, there was a furore when Brown won a corner from a drop ball rather than allowing possession to return to Macedonia, who had put the ball out of play after one of their players was injured. However, the Scots failed to capitalise and McFadden succeeded only in picking up a costly yellow card which rules him out of the clash against Holland. Scotland could have been ahead five minutes after the restart when Nikolce Noveski's attempts to clear a Steven Fletcher ball from the right saw him inadvertently prod into the path of McFadden but the Birmingham forward blasted wide. Gordon was then forced to deny Pandev again after Macedonia's all-time top goalscorer found himself through on goal and one on one with the Scotland goalkeeper. The Scots did look more dangerous in the second half and goalkeeper Nikoloski spilled the ball after blocking from Miller but Steven Fletcher slid in just too late to connect at the back post. Hampden erupted when the elusive opener arrived after 56 minutes when Brown beat Sedloski to the ball and connected with a Steven Fletcher cross to direct a header past the Macedonia goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net to score his first international goal. The visitors could have restored parity when Pandev broke away down the left flank before whipping an inviting ball to the feet of Georgievski but he squandered a great opportunity to level by blasting wide of the upright. Scotland should have doubled their advantage when Miller bore down on goal from the right flank only to see his effort flash across the face of goal and inches wide of the target. Instead, the honours went to McFadden. A terrific solo effort saw him collect the ball on the halfway line before skipping past Sedloski and rounding the goalkeeper before coolly slotting into the back of the net on 81 minutes. Scotland saw out the remainder of the match to claim the crucial three points, knowing they must do it all again when Group Nine winners Holland come calling on Wednesday night.

Scotland	Team Statistics	Macedonia
2	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
3	Shots on Target	3
12	Shots off Target	9
0	Blocked Shots	2
3	Corners	7
12	Fouls	11
4	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
78.9	Passing Success	77.8
27	Tackles	32
70.4	Tackles Success	71.9
46	Possession	54
57.3	Territorial Advantage	42.7