Match ends, Cyprus 1, Scotland 2.
John McGinn's fourth goal in two Scotland games secured a morale-boosting victory in Cyprus and moved Steve Clarke's side above their hosts into third in Euro qualifying Group I.
But it came after an early let-off when Georgios Efrem's shot hit the crossbar and appeared to land over the goalline.
Ryan Christie curled home a wonderful finish for his first Scotland goal before Efrem volleyed a fine leveller.
McGinn's close-range strike earned the first back-to-back wins under Clarke.
While Scotland can no longer qualify for Euro 2020 through the group, the head coach set the target of a third-place finish before their play-off in March.
To meet his target, victory in Cyprus was a must, but was far from a formality.
Scotland had to survive several nervous moments - Ioannis Costi should have made it 2-2 when he crashed a driving header wide - but they held on for a dogged three points.
Not scintillating but so important
Things might have turned out very differently had Cyprus been rewarded for some early enterprise with a goal they felt they had earned.
With yet another all-new Scots backline trying to find their feet, Cyprus weaved patterns around them - Fotis Papoulis and Pieros Sotiriou playing lovely give-and-gos to release Efrem, who bamboozled Scott McKenna before unleashing a shot that appeared to cross the line after striking the underside of the crossbar.
But the officials were unconvinced and waved play on as the Cypriots claimed in vain and David Marshall in the Scots' goal breathed a sigh of relief.
And within minutes Scotland had scored a wonderful goal of their own. Ryan Jack and McGinn combined in midfield to find Christie, who weaved his way in off the right wing to curl a perfectly-judged effort into Urko Pardo's top right-hand corner.
That was an early nerve-settler for the visitors, who were trying to pin Cyprus back by pressing them quickly in high areas, with captain Steven Naismith making a customary nuisance of himself among the home defenders.
But it was clear Cyprus felt capable of hurting Scotland at the other end. They kept faith with their quick passing game and Marshall had to push away a shot from Sotiriou to maintain the slender advantage.
And Efrem finally got his goal with another sublime hit from the angle of the penalty area. Debutant Declan Gallagher half-cleared a free-kick but, as the ball fell out of the Nicosia sky, the former Rangers forward's technique to volley past Marshall was perfect.
It was difficult to argue with the scoreline. Cyprus had put plenty into the match but they quickly found themselves trailing again as Greg Taylor sent in an inviting low cross from the left and McGinn swept the ball into net from close range for a fourth goal in two games and a fifth in five.
Still Cyprus refused to concede defeat and just failed to level a second time by a matter of inches when Costi threw himself at Jason Demetriou's cross only to see his header fly the wrong side of a post.
This was by no means a scintillating Scottish performance but it was measured, disciplined and ultimately successful.
The ability to grind out victories is an important one to recapture, and avoiding defeat at home to Kazakhstan on Tuesday will give Clarke the third-place finish he targeted and ensure Scotland go into the Euro 2020 play-off semi-final in March in good heart.
Man of the match - Ryan Christie
Even from a wide position, where he was less able to orchestrate proceedings, the Celtic man looked the most likely Scotland player to make something happen.
His goal looked effortless and was executed with the composure of a man on top form who knows exactly what he wants to do.
Now a key man for club and country, his fitness levels allow him to continue to press, chase and harry opposition defenders until the final minute.
Match stats
- Scotland have won all seven of their matches against Cyprus - only against San Marino (8/8) do they have a better record.
- They have won consecutive matches for the first time under Clarke, having lost four in a row prior to this run.
- 10 of the 14 goals Cyprus have scored this campaign have been come from set pieces (71%).
- Of the last eight qualification goals that Scotland have conceded, five have been scored from set pieces.
- McGinn didn't score or assist once in his first 14 caps, but has since scored five goals and provided two assists in his subsequent six.
- Christie scored his first goal for Scotland in his 10th international appearance.
Line-ups
Cyprus
Formation 5-4-1
- 1Pardo
- 6DemetriouBooked at 58mins
- 2KaroSubstituted forKastanosat 42'minutes
- 4Merkis
- 13Kousoulos
- 3Ioannou
- 15Papoulis
- 8KyriakouSubstituted forTheodorouat 77'minutes
- 17Kosti
- 7EfremSubstituted forSpoljaricat 74'minutes
- 10Sotiriou
Substitutes
- 5Theodorou
- 9Zachariou
- 11Avraam
- 12Kissas
- 14Wheeler
- 16Spoljaric
- 18Artymatas
- 19Christoforou
- 20Kastanos
- 21Ioannou
- 22Michael
- 23Economides
Scotland
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 1Marshall
- 2PalmerBooked at 90mins
- 5Gallagher
- 6McKennaBooked at 47mins
- 3TaylorBooked at 58mins
- 11ChristieSubstituted forDevlinat 90+2'minutes
- 4Jack
- 10McGregorBooked at 14mins
- 7ForrestSubstituted forBurkeat 72'minutes
- 8McGinnBooked at 56mins
- 9NaismithSubstituted forMcBurnieat 62'minutes
Substitutes
- 12McLaughlin
- 13Shinnie
- 14Fleck
- 15Devlin
- 16Morgan
- 17Burke
- 18S Armstrong
- 19Shankland
- 20McBurnie
- 21MacGillivray
- 22O'Donnell
- 23Porteous
- Referee:
- Harald Lechner
- Attendance:
- 7,595
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home58%
- Away42%
- Shots
- Home12
- Away8
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away4
- Corners
- Home9
- Away8
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away18
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Cyprus 1, Scotland 2.
Post update
Attempt missed. Grigoris Kastanos (Cyprus) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.
Post update
Pieros Sotiriou (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Scott McKenna (Scotland).
Post update
Attempt missed. Fotios Papoulis (Cyprus) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Pieros Sotiriou.
Substitution
Substitution, Scotland. Michael Devlin replaces Ryan Christie.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Fotios Papoulis.
Booking
Liam Palmer (Scotland) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Grigoris Kastanos.
Post update
Attempt missed. Ioannis Kosti (Cyprus) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left.
Post update
Foul by Pieros Sotiriou (Cyprus).
Post update
Oliver McBurnie (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Cyprus. Conceded by Ryan Christie.
Post update
Giorgios Merkis (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by John McGinn (Scotland).
Post update
Corner, Cyprus. Conceded by Ryan Jack.
Post update
Corner, Cyprus. Conceded by Liam Palmer.
Post update
Attempt missed. Demetris Theodorou (Cyprus) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Nikolas Ioannou with a cross.
Post update
Urko Pardo (Cyprus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Comments
Join the conversation
Should build the team up from now so we're ready... well as long as they don't pull out injured and then turn out for their club a week later!
sitting above...yes above Cyprus and Kazakhstan.
It's time to paint your face blue and run down the street.
A win is a rare thing for us, especially on the road. I'll take it.
But not went for many years
The whole football community in Scotland must take a look at themselves
Players coaches , clubs
Nothing to do with population size
Eg Croatia
We don’t improve
We don’t get better
The whole set up needs changed
Good enough. Keep going.
The negative trash talking by sickos in basements might have actually influenced me. Now I just accept that the clown at the end of the bar that everyone avoided now has the Internet, unfortunately. harder to avoid but should be laughed at.
Cmon Scotland, finish third then win the playoff. That’s fine by me.
P.S 2 days with Prince Andrew/Epstein as top story now, you're wasting your time BBC, you're not fooling anyone pushing this Psyops trying to manipulate joe bloggs into thinking he is innocent, we all know he isn't.
Stunning stuff.
Well done....