Stephen McManus gives woeful Scotland late win over Liechtenstein

Euro 2012 Qual Group I
Scotland 2

* Miller, K 63,
* McManus 90

Liechtenstein 1

* Frick, M 46

* Ewan Murray at Hampden Park
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 September 2010 22.13 BST

Scotland have plummeted to such depths that victory here should not have been regarded as a formality. Craig Levein had hoped for an emphatic win to provide the main talking point. Instead, Scottish football's obituary was being prepared with 44 minutes left to play. Levein was also, at that juncture, facing a genuine battle to hold on to his job.

As Mario Frick sent Liechtenstein into the lead, onlookers prepared for the lowest point in what has been a rapid – and possibly terminal – slump for Scotland's national team. The recovery was workmanlike rather than impressive and the desperate nature of what arrived before Stephen McManus stooped to head home a Barry Robson corner with more than six minutes of stoppage time played should not be forgotten.

For the sake of the manager's sanity, he would be advised not to consider the reaction had McManus not scored such a crucial goal. Scotland's followers would rather Levein was lucky than good, in any case.

The manager had been criticised heavily for his insistence on sticking with a single striker for Friday's opening Euro 2012 qualifying match, in Lithuania. He could not resist the temptation to field two strikers against Liechtenstein, the second worst Scotland team have ever faced in a competitive match – exactly 100 places separate the two nations in Fifa's world rankings. What followed, however, merely endorsed the manager's belief that a two-pronged attack does not automatically boost prowess in front of goal.

It was left to Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller to kick start Scotland's campaign. Both had demons to exorcise. Miller may have grown in importance to club and country over the years but he started this match having failed to score in a dozen internationals. After 13 minutes had been played he broke through the unwanted barrier of 1,000 minutes in navy blue without a goal. Scotland had found the net only once in six matches. Boyd had refused to play for his country after the early stages of George Burley's dismal time as Scotland manager. This was the Middlesbrough man's first start in three years.

With such statistics in mind, perhaps the Scots' early struggles should have come as no surprise. Boyd was narrowly beaten to a fine Miller cross by Yves Oehri, with 24 minutes played. That was Scotland's first chance worthy of the name and it took just another six minutes for the Hampden crowd to voice their frustrations.

If Levein could understand the lack of confidence from his players, their shortage of ideas against such a low standard of opposition was inexplicable. The sight of Miller and Scott Brown clattering into each other eight minutes before the interval summed up the troubling nature of Scotland's first half. Levein, so perturbed by media coverage at the weekend, was the recipient of a chorus of boos as the half-time whistle blew.

Worse was to follow as Frick's goal stunned Hampden into silence. Liechtenstein's captain, who was winning his 95th cap, was allowed to twist and turn by the woefully static McManus and he wasted little time in doing the rest, supplying a curling finish, high beyond Allan McGregor. The saddest indictment of Scotland's inadequacy all over the field was that they had succeeded in making a country who arrived in Glasgow having failed to take a point from any British opposition appear to be a decent side.

Miller scored the equaliser with a ferocious half-volley which bounded into the Liechtenstein net off the post. The level of jubilation in the stands and on the field illustrated Scotland's desperation. They had scarcely merited Miller's goal, and any suggestion that the closing minutes wound down with Scotland camped in their visitors' half would be wrong. Liechtenstein looked sharp in attack and in spells as likely to score a second goal as their apparently more illustrious opponents.

The McManus header, which conjured memories of a Richard Gough winner in Cyprus 21 years ago, was harsh on the visitors. It also spared Levein the biggest savaging of his career.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer