Scotland player ratings vs Greece: Verdict on Hibs star as two game-changing 7s and bizarre error clinch win

Scotland staged one of their greatest smash-and-grab results in history to keep their World Cup dreams alive after coming from behind to defeat Greece 3-1 at Hampden Park.

Steve Clarke’s side came into this must-not lose clash sitting level on points with Denmark at the top of Group C, with the Greeks lurking just a point behind. Yet the nations’ hopes of ending the 27-year World Cup hoodoo still remained incredibly fragile.

The equation was simple. A win against Ivan Jovanovic’s men coupled with three points at home to Belarus on Sunday and a Danish win over Greece would guarantee at least a play-off spot.

Sound relatively straightforward in hindsight, but this is Scotland we’re talking about. When do the national team ever make things easy? Especially against a dangerous opponent who flexed their muscles on their previous visit to Mount Florida in March and consigned the Scots to Nations League A relegation.

On that occasion, it was an embarrassing 3-0 defeat devoid of any quality just a few days after grinding out a 1-0 win over in Athens. So the Tartan Army could be forgiven for feeling a sense of nervousness coming into this fixture.

But this was an opportunity to right a few wrongs and head coach Clarke will have hoped his players learned several lessons from that Hampden drubbing.

Clarke - on his record-equalling 21st game in charge of the country after drawing alongside Craig Brown - named a very attacking line-up with Ben Gannon-Doak tasked with causing the visitors problems down the left flank, while his Bournemouth team-mate Ryan Christie took up a deep-lying midfield role that he has been used to playing at club level.

There was a further pre-match boost with the news that Greece had opted to bench 17-year-old wonderkid Konstantinos Karetsas, who proved to be Scotland’s chief tormentor in that play-off defeat.

A minute’s applause took place before kick-off in memory of former Hibs chairman and Scottish FA president Rod Petrie, who lost his cancer battle in August at the age of 69.

There was an ominous chill in the air in Glasgow’s southside and Gannon-Doak was the first to warm the vocal cords of the bumper 46,000 crowd in attendance. The 19-year-old scampered away from his man before the ball was eventually worked across to John McGinn, who saw his effort blocked.

However, Greece, who sit three places about Scotland in the FIFA rankings, are no mugs and possessed a serious goal threat of their own with prolific goal-getters Vangelis Pavlidis and Christos Tzolis spearheading their forward line.

The home side were left breathing an early sigh of relief when a teasing low ball across the face of goal almost found Pavlidis on the stretch but the Benfica star couldn’t make the necessary contact from just a few yards out that would have surely resulted in a goal.

It was a glorious chance and served as a timely reminder that even without top talent Karetsas on the field, they still had plenty of class on display capable of unlocking almost any international team.

Scotland seemed very reluctant to show much intent going forward and allowed the Greeks plenty of time on the ball. They were on the back foot again when Pavlidis tried a speculative pot shot from distance which flew straight into the arms of Angus Gunn.

That was just about all there was to get excited about following a pretty dire opening 45 minutes. Would Clarke ring the changes at the interval in search of finding a creative spark his side so desperately lacked? The answer was not initially.

And the decision almost proved costly as Greece flew out of the traps at the start of the second period with the lively Pavlidis heading over the crossbar before Giorgos Masouras blazed high over the top after finding himself in acres of space in the box.

Scotland were being overrun in midfield and had no control of proceedings. It seemed only a matter of time before the Greeks broke the deadlock. Celtic full-back Anthony Ralston was the first sub introduced just shy of the hour mark, replacing Aaron Hickey who appeared to suffer a muscle injury. Billy Gilmour also replaced Gannon-Doak in what was more of a tactical switch - a decision that was met with a smattering of boos.

And just moments after Scotland's brightest outlet was withdrawn from the action, the visitors did indeed take a deserved lead. This was a defensive disaster from a Scotland perspective as former Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas steered low into the bottom corner after wriggling free of his marker.

Greece were threatening a repeat of their March demolition job. But miraculously, out of nothing, Scotland managed to hit back almost immediately.

A deflected Ralston cross into the box was nodded on by Hibs centre-back Grant Hanley and a tame clearance saw the ball drop to Ryan Christie who swept low into the net. Following a lengthy VAR check for a possible offside, the goal was eventually allowed to stand.

Hampden Park was rocking at long last. It was game on again and Clarke’s men were beginning to up the ante. Che Adams, who had cut a pretty frustrated figure up front, was next to threaten but his deflected shot from a Gilmour free-kick flashed wide of the target.

And the Greeks, like many inside the ground, were stunned as the clock struck 80 minutes. Moments after Lewis Ferguson won a free-kick in a promising position wide right, Andy Robertson’s floated delivery caused panic in the visitors box and the ball dropped kindly for Bologna midfielder Ferguson to rifle high past the keeper into the roof of the net - his first goal for his country.

Clarke reverted to a back five in the closing stages with Kieran Tierney introduced for Christie and Lyndon Dykes taking over from Adams up front.

Greece were rocked and knew their play-offs hopes were diminishing. Karetsas, though, almost made it 2-2 when his whipped effort appeared destined to find to the top corner but Angus Gunn produced a tremendous reaction save to tip it behind for a corner.

But there was to be no way back for the visitors in added time when goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis attempted to stop a ball going out for a corner, but he let it spill from his grasp and there was Dykes on hand to pounce and smash into an unguarded net.

This was arguably one of the most spectacular acts of daylight robbery as you’re ever likely to see. A comeback of epic proportions. Three massive points with Belarus up next in three days time.

Here’s how the Edinburgh Evening News rated the players: