Lithuania 0-3 Scotland: Gordon Strachan's side breath new life into World Cup campaign

Andrew Robertson (centre) scored a superb second goal for Scotland

Scotland breathed fresh life into their World Cup qualifying campaign with a convincing win away to Lithuania.

There had been chances missed at both ends by the time Stuart Armstrong rose to head the visitors into a deserved lead after 25 minutes.

It wasn't long before Andrew Robertson topped that with a sublime looping drive from just outside the box.

Scotland's pace and control dropped after the break, but James McArthur prodded in a third to settle the game.

The win moves Gordon Strachan's side ahead of Slovenia, who lost 1-0 away to Slovakia, into third place in Group F on goal difference.

But they remain four points adrift of the second-top Slovaks thanks to an Adam Nemec goal nine minutes from time in Trnva, while England retain their two-point cushion at the top after their 4-0 win in Malta.

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The beginning of this impressive Scotland victory was pretty frantic. Inside the first 20 minutes, there could have been three or four goals, with Leigh Griffiths, Armstrong - two of six Celtic players who started - and Matt Phillips all going close at one end and, after McArthur gifted Lithuania possession, Arvydas Novikovas almost making the breakthrough at the other.

Stuart Armstrong (left) scored his first goal for Scotland

That was a scary moment for Scotland. Novikovas really ought to have scored rather than pulling his shot wide of Craig Gordon's right-hand post.

And there was another soon after when Novikovas again launched a free-kick that was heading for the top left corner of Gordon's net until the Celtic goalkeeper flung himself across goal and pushed it away.

From that moment, though, Scotland took over. They were slick and dangerous, playing at a tempo that Lithuania found hard to cope with.

It was substantial stuff from them, the best they have played in a game of this importance for quite some time.

The opener was deserved when it came, a simple enough affair from a Griffiths corner that was nutted home by Armstrong, a top performer all night for Scotland. It was the Celtic man's first goal for his country. Beautifully timed too.

Five minutes later, there was a second - and it was a beauty. Scotland countered from their own penalty box, sweeping down the left-hand side through Phillips.

When James Forrest played it to the outstanding Robertson, the Liverpool full-back was decisive and deadly. His sumptuous shot from distance gave Ernestas Setkus in the Lithuania goal no chance.

It was his second international goal and the first by a Liverpool Scot in a competitive match since Kenny Dalglish in 1984.

All of this not only made the Scotland fans go delirious but also there might have been some wistful chat in their massed ranks. Why could the Scots not have produced this kind of excellence the last time these sides met - the damaging 1-1 draw at Hampden Park in October?

Scotland did awful harm to their qualification hopes that night. They've got a massive amount of work left to do in the group, but their hopes are just about alive.

The second half here wasn't as action-packed as the first - Scotland played it out with maturity - but there were more chances out there. Griffiths hit the side-netting, Vykintas Slivka should have scored for Lithuania, Forrest and Armstrong also had shots - and then the third goal came.

Lithuania's defenders looked vulnerable all night, their discomfort glaringly obvious when Scotland scored again. Kieran Tierney and Griffiths were involved, the striker finding McArthur, who put it away while the home team had a befuddled look.

The only downer for Scotland was the news of Slovakia's victory, a result that does much to strengthen their chances of taking that play-off place.

Scotland may have left it too late to find their best stuff in this group, but at least they're in form now. And they're fighting.