Scotland 2-0 Georgia: McGregor and McTominay boost Euro 2024 qualification hopes

On this most unusual and farcical night at the Hampden Park splashpad – biblical rain, Georgia refusing to play, a 150-minute first half – there was at least a more familiar scene towards midnight. Scotland had won again.

With four consecutive victories they are ready for Euro 2024 and the Tartan Army does not want this season to end. It sometimes felt like it would never feel here. How appropriate that, on the eve of the longest day of the summer, we played the longest game of the season. By the time the Hungarian referee blew for the end, it was 11:20 pm.

It rained so heavily in the hour before kick-off at 7.45pm, if cats and dogs had fallen from the sky you wouldn’t have batted an eye. Only in Glasgow can a match in June be threatened by bad weather. The teams lined up in boots, but flippers would have been more appropriate.

When the players were then tackled down the field rather than each other – Aaron Hickey was literally dispossessed by a puddle during a dribble – it was clear to everyone that the game could not continue.

But just as the referees were preparing for a suspension, the hosts scored from a corner kick through Callum McGregor and attitudes changed. Scotland wanted to play, Georgia didn’t. During a subsequent delay of more than 90 minutes, the drama and theater was at times more engaging than the game itself.

We had home fans in chorus to the Travis hit “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?”, schoolboys battling with brooms to clean the surface water, huge cheers as officials rolled the ball without resistance, and jeers when Georgia subsequently failed to show up before the scheduled reboot. Finally dragged out of their locker room by referee Istvan Bad, they played as a team in battle. Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia getting a 95th minute penalty in the air pretty much summed up their regretful night.

But that didn’t matter to Steve Clarke and Scotland, who added a second goal just after the break through the brilliant Scott McTominay. They are now, in theory, one win away from automatic qualification for next summer’s European Championship. Beat Cyprus in September and they will be on 15 points, a total that was enough for any team in a group of five countries to qualify for the final finals.

Clarke will continue to do his best to dispel such talk, at least until the job is done. But neither cold water nor rainwater dampen the feverish enthusiasm the Scots currently have for their team. They sang all night about going to Germany, and they should.

This was another feat of control and energy, overcoming both their opponent and the conditions. McTominay was the star, but there was plenty of competition – Billy Gilmour, Andy Robertson, John McGinn. Not to mention McGregor, who opened the scoring when he blasted through soaked bodies from 40 feet in six minutes.

McTominay made two with his fifth in three games at Hampden when he strode on a loose ball and sent it into the bottom corner. There’s a further £5million on his asking price, with Newcastle one of those particularly fond of the Manchester United midfielder.

Come full time, the big screens warned supporters of the approaching departure of the last train. It is flights to Munich and Berlin that they should be more concerned about.