Rate it!

31 votes

Scotland reignited their World Cup qualifying hopes after a slender 2-1 victory over Iceland in their crucial Group 9 clash at Hampden Park.

Ross McCormack gave the home side the lead in the 39th minute, before Indridi Sigurdsson stunned the home fans with an opportunist strike just after half-time.

But Steven Fletcher's 65th minute header grabbed all three points for under-fire Scotland boss George Burley, and kept his side's campaign very much alive.

Burley had dropped Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson to the bench as he made some strong decisions in what was a vital home game for the Scots.

The hosts started the brighter as Iceland struggled to match their early intensity, with McCormack a potent outlet down the left in particular.

A marauding run by Alan Hutton in the seventh minute - an indication of things to come - was ended by a challenge from Aron Gunnarsson inside the area, which prompted tentative claims for a penalty, but the appeals were waved away.

McCormack then showed his burgeoning confidence in a Scotland shirt two minutes later, with a hugely ambitious curled effort from the edge of the penalty area, but it did not trouble Gunnleifur Gunniefsson in the Iceland goal.

Fletcher almost found a yard of space inside the Iceland box when James Morrison cut the ball back to him from the right in the 15th minute, but the forward's shot was deflected wide by Gretar Steinsson.

On the half-hour, as the visitors came into the match with more certainty, Arnor Smarason whipped in a devilish cross from the right, which forced Alan Hutton to back-pedal frantically at the back post to head clear with Heidar Helguson lurking behind him.

Skipper for the evening in Ferguson's absence, Celtic's Stephen McManus made an impeccably-timed interception at the other end five minutes later, with Palmi Palmason foraging down the left and crossing in for the otherwise subdued Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Kenny Miller had a chance to open the scoring after finding a yard of space inside the box, but dallied too long instead of taking his shot first-time, and was duly dispossessed by Danielsson in the 38th minute.

But a minute later, McCormack showed the conviction which was required: superb wing-play by Hutton culminated in a cross which Steven Fletcher wisely let run for the diminutive winger, who drilled his shot in off the crossbar.

Another strong run from Hutton saw the Tottenham defender surge into the Iceland box, before bringing a smart stop from Gunnleifsson down to his right, parrying the ball wide in the 50th minute.

But four minutes later, slack marking from Scotland enabled Palmi Palmason to scamper through into the area and strike Gordon's crossbar, before Sigurdsson pounced sharply on the rebound to level the scores.

But a crucial decision gave Scotland the chance to regain their lead in the 65th minute: Morrison won a corner for his side, with the retreating Helguson bewildered after seeing the ball strike his opponent's knee on the way out of touch.

From the subsequent corner whipped in by McCormack, McManus rose in commanding fashion to head back into the area for Fletcher, who powered his header past Gunniefsson to send Hampden Park into delirium.

A glorious chance for Morrison followed to give the hosts a welcome cushion, after he was put through by Darren Fletcher, but the winger dragged his shot narrowly wide of the far post after evading his marker Danielsson down the right.

Scotland hung on impressively in a tense finale as Iceland stepped up their intensity.

Fine goalkeeping from Gordon denied Helguson in the 88th minute, claiming the ball at the feet of the forward after Gary Naysmith had dived to meet a loose ball inside his own six-yard box.

The win lifts Scotland above their opponent's in the Group 9 table, giving them a three-point cushion in second place, albeit having played a game more than Macedonia, and two more than Norway.

In the other match in Group 9, Netherlands struck three early goals to set up a crushing 4-0 win over Macedonia which edged them closer to World Cup qualification.

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring from close range on 16 minutes following a pass by Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben, who set up Klaas-Jan Huntelaar nine minutes later to double the hosts' lead.

An excellent pass from substitute Wesley Sneijder created Kuyt's second four minutes before the interval and Rafael van der Vaart completed the rout two minutes from time.

Dutch substitute Ryan Babel could have scored a hat-trick after replacing Robben but goalkeeper Tome Pacovski prevented further damage until Van de Vaart's late strike.

The Netherlands top the group with a maximum 15 points from five games, eight ahead of Scotland.

The Dutch next play Iceland away on June 6 and host Norway four days later.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport / Reuters