Scotland - Georgia: Text Commentary, Football Scores and Result of Euro 2016 Qualifying

Scotland - Georgia: Text Commentary, Football Scores and Result of Euro 2016 Qualifying
cammy-anderson
By Cammy Anderson
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With that, It's time I bid you farewell. I've been Cammy Anderson and I hope you've enjoyed my coverage of Scotland-Georgia this evening. I also wish to say thank you for tuning in to my coverage. Have a good night folks!

Scotland deservedly have their first victory of the Euro 2016 campaign while Georgia are yet to register a single point. It's still early doors but after wasting near enough an hour just humphing the ball up field, Georgia will have to change their play style if they are to get anywhere.

An impressive display that deserved so much more. Scott Brown was awarded the sponsors man of the match however I would go with either Andy Robertson or Shaun Maloney.

FULL TIME: Scotland 1-0 Georgia

93' Scotland have dropped deep for the final minute of play

90' The fourth official correctly manages to signal an additional four minutes injury time

88' A minute later and the fourth official continues to make a mess. Quite comical stuff so Strachan decides to make the change manually. Derby's Chris Martin replaces Fletcher.

87' Scotland sub is disrupted as the fourth official has a nightmare with the board and can't put the right numbers in.

85' Five minutes of regulation time remain, Scotland hold on to their 1-0 lead given to them by a Maloney volley just before the half hour mark.

83' Loria denies Morrison with his legs from close range

82' Robertson beats Chanturia to a cross in just enough time to avert the increasing Georgian pressure

81' Scotland SUB: McArthur ON Naismith OFF

81' Georgia SUB: Chanturia ON Kazaishvili

80' Dzaria fails to test Marshall from a close range effort

79' Fletcher backheels to Naismith who drags his shot wide of the post. The hunt for a second goal continues

77' Robertson zips one along the ground and wide of Loria's far post

75' A miscued clearance left Robertson in all sort of trouble but thankfully the twenty-year had the legs to run back and put it out for a corner.

73' Maloney whips a costless kick in but his ball fails to clear the first man

70' Georgia SUB: Papava OFF Dzaria ON

66' Robertson's cross is caught by Loria

63' Scotland fans are in full voice now as they sing Flower of Scotland with hair raising effects

62' Fletcher has a whack at goal but from that angle he had no chance!

61' Naismith gets a shot away from close range after receiving a great ball from Hutton

59' Anya creeps inbetween the Georgian defence and despite going to ground he isn't awarded a penalty

57' The Georgian's have started off better than they finished the first half but Scotland remain in control as we edge closer to the hour mark

GOAL ALERT: Seven heaven for Republic of Ireland. If you don't believe me have a look, they're having a field day! Hoolahan with the goal.

52' Daushvili booked for foul on Anya

GOAL ALERT X2: Keane grabs his fourth and Ireland's fifth before McClean grabbed the sixth in quick succession, 6-0 Republic of Ireland

51' Hutton dinks it in and Naismith meets it with his head but the flag was up against Fletcher

GOAL ALERT: James McClean has made it 4-0 to the Republic of Ireland

48' First booking of the game for Georgia as Grigalava goes into the book for a foul on Hutton

47' Lobzhanidze swings one towards Okriashvili but Brown is there to break the move up.

46' Scotland kick off in a now floodlit Ibrox stadium.

Georgia SUB: Okriashvili ON Kvirkvelia OFF

The teams are back out into the pitch ahead of the second half

A very good first half performance from the Scots. As a Scot myself, I'm pleased with how the half has went and have been highly impressed by Robertson's deliveries and Anya tricks.

HALF TIME: Scotland 1-0 Georgia

45' There will be a minutes additional time at the end of the half

43' Maloney hits it first time off balance despite having the time to have taken a touch to control the ball

40' We are now into the final five minutes of the half and Scotland continue to lead and dominate proceedings.

38' Hutton sends it across the floor into the box and after some pinball in the box the ball falls to Brown who curls one not far off the target with a slight deflection that had fans up the far end jumping for joy.

36' Maloney crosses towards Anya but the ball is too high for the pocket sized midfielder in the end

34' Naismith latches on to a Fletcher cut back but his first touch is heavy and the ball rolls into the hands of Loria. Georgia very lucky not to have been punished.

33' Morrison hacks down Papava and sees the first yellow of the afternoon

32' Cheers from the crowd as the referee produces vanishing spray before a Georgian costless kick.

30' Fletcher lays off Naismith who pings one goalwards but Loria gathers despite the deflection

28' Loria fails to punch clear a Robertson cross and the ball falls to Maloney who volleys it low and hard from outside the box into the net with a little help from Kabutia. 1-0 Scotland

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL SCOOOOOOTTTTLAAAAAAND

26' A lovely precise build up from Scotland as Naismith tees off Maloney who sends it back to Anya who hammers it off a Georgian defender out for a corner.

24' Anya continues to terrorise Lobzhanidze down the left flank as he turns him inside out

22' Robertson sends a clever ball towards Fletcher but the whistle is blown for offside to the relief of Georgia

20' Still goalless after twenty minutes but the Scots have been by far the better of the two sides

18' Morrison catches a dropping ball on the full volley but fails to convert as he sends it into the stand from outside the box

17' Anya provides Scotland with their second corner of the game. Just like the first, Loria comes out on top and punches clear

GOAL ALERT: 3-0 Republic of Ireland and it's a third for Robbie Keane after just eighteen minutes.

14' A Georgia costless kick is sent deep into the Scotland box but Martin clears the danger

GOAL ALERT: Robbie Keane at the double as Republic of Ireland now lead 2-0.

12' Robertson sends an early cross into the box and Fletcher goes to ground but no penalty given.

9' Hanley disposses an advancing Gelashvili not once but twice as the Georgian's make a rare move forward.

GOAL ALERT: Republic of Ireland lead 1-0 against Gibraltar through a Robbie Keane goal in Group D's other early evening kick off.

5' It's been all Scotland in the opening exchanges with Georgia looking quite content sitting back and absorbing the Scotland attacks

3' A neat Scotland passing display is rewarded a corner, Maloney sends in but Loria punches clear.

2' Hutton makes an early surge through but his ball towards Fletcher is blocked by a Georgian centre half

1' We have lift off in this evenings fixture between Scotland and Georgia. It is the hosts who get us underway.

16:58. The Georgian national anthem has been sung, now it's time for Flower of Scotland.

16:55. The teams walk out onto a 40,000 full Ibrox pitch to huge cheers from the home support.

16:53. Giorgi Loria, Georgia's keeper will have to be on top form if Georgia are to get anything out of it. The 6ft 5 keeper represents OFI Crete in the top flight of Greek football. He has made close to 30 international caps since 2008.

16:50. The atmosphere is building inside Ibrox as kick off edges ever closer.

16:40. The Georgian team is now in!

Loria; Lobzhanidze, S. Kverkvelia, Grigalava, Khubutia, D. Kvervelia; Papava, Kazaishvili, Kankava, Daushvili; Gelashvili

16:35. Eighteen months ago, Scotland's starting left back, Andy Robertson was playing for amateur side Queen's Park in the fourth tier of the Scottish game. Now he plays for Hull in the Barclays Premier League following a summer move and is only twenty-five minutes away from making his competitive Scotland debut.

16:30. Half an hour to go until kick off

16:25. Scotland's dangerman: Ikechi Anya. Anya plies his trade with Watford in the English Championship. With pace to burn and plenty skills in his arsenal, expect to see Anya running at defenders the whole game. With what seems an endless tank of energy, Anya will be lively from the offset. Anya was the sole scorer for Scotland in Germany in the first group match.

16:10. Captaining Scotland today is midfielder, Scott Brown. The twenty-nine year old started his career in the Hibernian youth ranks before being promoted into the senior side in 2002 as a seventeen year old. Since 2007, Brown has played for Glasgow Celtic amassing over two hundred appearances to date. The Dunfermline born midfielder has been in the senior men's side since 2005 and is closing in on fifty international appearances

16:00. With an hour to go until kick off, Scotland have announced their team

Marshall, Robertson, Hanley, Martin, Hutton; Brown ( C ), Morrison; Anya, Naismith, Maloney; S. Fletcher

15:45. Strachan on the other hand was unwilling to count the opposition out in a recent press conference: “There are never any must-win games unless you need those three points to qualify, You never know when those games are coming. All we can do is prepare, do the right things. Sometimes the football gods don’t look upon you, sometimes they do. You have to deal with the consequences. You have to deal with the occasion."

15:40. Ketsbaia was in high praise of his opposite number in a recent interview regarding the fixture. "Every team that [Gordon Strachan] was coaching before were always very hard to beat and were a team. They tried very hard for each other. He's also managed to do that in the national team." He also made his ambitions clear, "We have not come here to lose the game, If we do what we have to do, I think we have a chance to get something from the game."

15:35. Georgia have won just three of their last thirty competitive fixtures since 2007 when they coincidentally defeated Scotland as previously stated.

15:30. Scotland haven't qualified for an international tournament since 1998 whereas Georgia have never qualified for any international tournament in their twenty-four year independence following the split up of the Soviet Union.

15:25. The sides have met twice before with the first and last fixtures being played in 2007 during the EURO 2008 qualifying campaign. The tartan army came out on top in the first game winning 2-1 but they were downed 2-0 away from home.

15:20. The other fixtures in Group D this evening are Republic of Ireland-Gibraltar which is scheduled to kick off at the same time as the Scotland game and Poland-Germany which is due to kick off at 19:45BST.

15:15. This evenings referee is Miroslav Zelinka. The 33 year old Czech is most commonly seen officiating his natives first division games. He has however refereed in the 2012-13 Europa League and more recently, 2014 World Cup qualifying games.

15:10. Interestingly, both coaches first international games in charge were against Estonia and both were victories.

15:05 The Georgian coach, Temuri "Temur" Ketsbaia is equally as decorated as Strachan internationally with 49 international caps to his name. Ketsbaia has a loose link to Scotland as he played for Dundee for a season in the early 2000's. He is viewed as a club icon for Cypriot side Anorthosis where he lead the club through their most successful spell in their time before going on to Olmpiakos.

15:00. At the helm for Scotland is, 50 time international, Gordon Strachan. The fiery haired, pocket sized manager had an illustrious twenty-six year career across five clubs in Britain. During his spell at Aberdeen the 57 year old was a European champion. He took over the Scotland job at the start of 2013 succeeding Craig Levein. Strachan is most commonly associated with using a traditional 4-4-2 formation but he is also loosely associated with the 4-5-1.

14:50. Georgia possible lineup: Kvaskhvadze; Lobzhanidze, Kvirkvelia, Khubutia, Kvirkvelia; Kashia, Kankava, Okriashvili, Daushvili, Ananidze; Gelashvili

14:40. Scotland possible lineup: Marshall; Robertson, Hanley, Martin, Hutton; Anya, Brown, D. Fletcher, Maloney; Naismith, S. Fletcher

14:30. The visitors Georgia fared no better as they were beaten by the same scoreline at home by Republic of Ireland. Again similar to Scotland's opener, Georgia's solitary goal from Okriashvili was sandwiched in between a brace from an opposition player.

14:20. The hosts started their campaign off with a defeat to the group favourites and world champions Germany in a packed Signal Iduna Park, home of Borussia Dortmund. World Cup golden boot winner, Thomas Müller scored either side of a superb solo run from Scotland's Ikechi Anya to give Germany all three points on the group opener.

14:10. This evening's game will see Scotland host Georgia at Ibrox stadium, in Glasgow. This is due to the unavailability of Scotland's traditional home, Hampden Park.

14:00. Hello and welcome to VAVEL's LIVE coverage of Scotland versus Georgia, in the second matchday of the EURO 2016 group stages; with match commentary coming from me, Cammy Anderson. Kick-off is scheduled for 17:00BST.