Georgia vs Scotland. European Championship Qualifying Group D.
Boris Paichadze Stadium.
Saturday 5 September 2015 12:38, UK
Scotland's hopes of reaching next summer's European Championship suffered a significant setback as they lost 1-0 to Georgia in Tbilisi.
Eight years after a 2-0 reverse there effectively ended their hopes of reaching Euro 2008, Valeri Kazaishvili's goal condemned them to a result which puts them on the back foot in Group D.
Poland and Germany were already ahead of the Scots, with the Germans now top of the section and five points clear of Gordon Strachan's men after their 3-1 win tonight over the former in Frankfurt.
The Republic of Ireland, who had been fourth in the group, also gained from Georgia's shock victory and their 4-0 success in Faro against Gibraltar sees them overtake the Scots into third.
Strachan's side will now look to get back on track and there is every chance they will have to win each of their final three games to claim a top-two place and qualification.
The first of those games is the most daunting, however, as they play the world champion Germans on Monday night at Hampden Park.
Georgia had won only four qualifying games since they beat Scotland in 2007 and that gave an away side that had scored in 12 consecutive games hope, but it ultimately frittered away.
The visitors had plenty of early possession as they set up camp in their opponents' half without creating many openings.
On the one occasion when they did seem to make some space, Shaun Maloney was flagged offside after a lovely touch from Steven Fletcher in a debatable decision. Fletcher was also questionably penalised after he challenged goalkeeper Nukri Revishvili for Hutton's cross.
Scotland continued probing but Steven Naismith couldn't get a shot away and when he forced a corner, Maloney's delivery was cleared.
Georgia – the fourth-lowest UEFA side in the world rankings – offered little in reply and Levan Mchedlidze had their best chance yet.
But although he scored as a 17-year-old against the Scots previously, he pulled his effort well past the post and couldn't trouble David Marshall.
Fletcher was looking to add to his hat-trick against Gibraltar in March and he almost put Strachan's men in front just before the half-hour mark.
Hull's Andrew Robertson swung a lovely teasing ball in between two defenders and although the Sunderland striker got a touch on it, he couldn't divert into the net.
That proved costly seven minutes before half-time when the hosts took an unexpected lead through Kazaishvili.
He finished well through Charlie Mulgrew's legs from the edge of the penalty box after Jaba Kankava's cross was nodded down by Mchedlidze.
Striker Mchedlidze nearly turned in a second after the restart while Naismith didn't quite put Maloney's corner over the line despite running away in celebration as though he did.
Maloney also did brilliantly to set up Fletcher but as his shot cannoned off the post, the linesman's flag meant it wouldn't have counted anyway had it gone in.
Mchedlidze had an attempt tipped over by Marshall at one end while Fletcher shot too high at the other as time began to run out for the visitors.
With the clock ticking down, play opened up and Mchedlidze put another shot into the side netting and Maloney's free kick was deflected over for a corner, which came to nothing.
It was a night when Scotland just never got going and after Grant Hanley's late header flashed wide, they now need a win over the World Cup holders to inject life back into their campaign.
