Scotland made slow headway along the road to redemption as they followed defeat in Kazakhstan with an uninspiring away win over San Marino.
Alex McLeish’s side failed to build quickly on Kenny McLean’s fourth-minute goal against the worst-ranked national team in the world and many of the almost 3,000 visiting fans vented their disapproval towards the Scottish Football Association board even after Johnny Russell doubled the lead in the 74th minute.
The opening defeat looked worse when their Group I rivals Russia won 4-0 in Kazakhstan before kick-off in San Marino. Ending the first two games against the two lowest-ranked teams on minus goal difference is a major setback, especially given Cyprus put five past San Marino.
The omens for a resounding win were not good. Scotland had won only 2-0 on each of their three visits to San Marino, twice on their way to reaching the European Championship finals in the 1990s.
McLeish made six changes and a bold choice in his central striking role by selecting Cardiff’s Callum Paterson, a midfielder for his club and a right-back for his country in the November wins over Albania and Israel.
Paterson and the Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser were back in after being allowed to miss the opening qualifier under an agreement with their clubs over concerns about the artificial surface, while Robertson returned after dental surgery. The right-back Stephen O’Donnell also came in along with Russell and McLean. James Forrest was among the players dropped.
Scotland started with verve and McLean came close with a fierce 20-yard volley before glancing home Fraser’s cross and settling nerves. But there was no lift-off as the tempo tailed off. Russell was twice off target with half-chances before teeing up Stuart Armstrong in the 20th minute but Ella Benedettini produced an impressive double stop.
Slackness remained evident in the visitors’ play and there was a scare on the half-hour mark when José Hirsch got in between Scotland’s centre-backs and went round Scott Bain; but he shot into the side netting from a difficult angle. Paterson went off injured after landing awkwardly as he had a header theatrically saved and Marc McNulty took his place.
There was a lack of quality about Scotland’s final ball, evidenced by Russell and Fraser wasting free-kicks and the latter crossing straight out of the park, before the half-time whistle was met by a few boos. There was another scare just after the restart when Filippo Berardi went down in the box under the close attention of Scott McKenna but the referee was unimpressed.
Forrest replaced Armstrong in the 71st minute and soon set up Russell on the break to score from close range. McNulty had set the Celtic winger free and left his low cross. The final whistle was met with a few jeers but more applause from the travelling fans.
“It was disappointing on the night that we didn’t get more,” said Russell. “The way they were playing it was tough to find spaces but we knew they were going to be like that and it was up to us to break them down.”