Slovenia 2 Scotland 2: Tartan Army's World Cup dream left in tatters despite late effort in Ljubljana

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Standard Sport8 October 2017

Scotland’s hopes of reaching the World Cup in Russia were ended after they scuppered a 1-0 lead in Slovenia in their final qualifier.

Leigh Griffiths finished brilliantly in the 32nd minute to put Scotland on route to a victory that would have guaranteed second spot in Group F and a two-legged decider next month.

But Slovenia substitute Roman Bezjak twice took advantage of slack marking and Scotland could not find a winner after Robert Snodgrass levelled in the 88th minute. Slovakia's 3-0 win over Malta consigned them to third place in Group F.

The home side went ahead in the 72nd minute through the same combination that got the equaliser, with Bezjak rolling the ball into the net from 12 yards.

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Scotland needed a goal quickly and Fletcher had a glorious chance to level after Tierney's cross eventually bounced in front of him 10 yards out, but the Stoke midfielder sliced his volley just over.

Robert Snodgrass and Steven Fletcher came on for McArthur and Tierney as Scotland went for broke with 10 minutes left and they got themselves back in it with almost three minutes left of normal time.

Darren Fletcher lofted a pass beyond the home defence and Snodgrass beat Oblak to it before hooking home.

The scene was set for a dramatic finale and the Scots found themselves breaking dangerously seconds later but Oblak scrambled the ball away as Phillips' deflected pass threatened to trickle over the line.

Gordon made a good save from Verbic before home skipper Bostjan Cesar was shown a straight red card following an assistant's flag, having appeared to continue a feud with Christophe Berra after the pair were both booked seconds earlier.

The visitors had one final chance when Berra headed on a long ball but Snodgrass just could not find enough power to loop his header over Oblak.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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