On the banks of the Danube Steve Clarke’s Scotland reached for a life vest, took a deep breath and swam for dear life.
Make no mistake. Anything less than a point in Vienna and any realistic hope of reaching the World Cup finals in Qatar next year was gone.
Thanks to a Lyndon Dykes penalty awarded after a VAR consultation after half an hour they took all three. Now second in Group F another huge game against Israel looms in Glasgow. Beat a weary old familiar foe before a packed Hampden on October 9 and a second place play-off becomes tantalisingly achievable.
Scotland picked up a crucial 1-0 win over Austria to move a step closer to qualifying for Qatar
Every successful qualification campaign needs a big bold statement away from home. A win against the odds. Austria had never lost consecutive home World Cup qualifiers. But they had failed to score in their last two home games against Denmark – a 4-0 thrashing – and Slovakia. Vulnerable and weak after a 5-2 thrashing in Tel Aviv at the weekend the boos around the Ernst Happel Stadium at full-time told their own story.
The appeals of Real Madrid left-back David Alaba to an irate fan base made no difference. Coah Franco Foda will pay a heavy price for sliding to crippling back to back defeats when he loses his job. In stark contrast that new contract for Steve Clarke no longer feels like such a rash and hasty call from the SFA.
The Austrians were a well-beaten, clueless bunch by the end. Only once did they force Craig Gordon into a save of note. In defence Scotland were disciplined and organised. In midfield Billy Gilmour, Callum McGregor and John McGinn were superb. After all the fretting over the strikers, meanwhile, Dykes has now claimed two huge goals in two games. In hindsight he could have had more.
Lyndon Dykes scored a first-half penalty after VAR judged Che Adams was fouled in the box
A blistering start from Austria was a mirage in the end. Dykes had his first chance to open the scoring after nine minutes when Che Adams pinched the ball from David Alaba 30 yards from goal.
Andrew Robertson picked out John McGinn’s run and when the Aston Villa man hung a cross in the air for Dykes the striker’s downward header was just too close to former Kilmarnock keeper Daniel Bachmann who dived low to save.
The chance exposed Austria’s achilles heel. A porous defence brutally exposed in Israel on Saturday, the home team were there for the taking. Whether Scotland could take advantage was another matter.
As so often in Steve Clarke’s reign a penalty kick provided the answer. When Adams was wrestled to the ground by Martin Hinteregger after 28 minutes the lack of a claim from the Scots was a strange affair. Replays showed a clear penalty and, after an inexplicable delay, the Video Assistant Referee agreed.
Scotland striker Adams went to ground while grappling with defender Martin Hinteregger
Bulgarian Georgi Babakov was encouraged to view the pitchside monitor on the halfway line. There could only be one outcome.
After an interminable wait of two minutes and Austrian gamesmanship Dykes stepped up to ram the penalty into dangerously close to Bachmann in goal. The power beat Austria’s keeper and Scotland had the lead, the Queens Park Rangers striker claiming his second Scotland goal in two games - his twelfth in 16 games for club and country.
Austrian protests were misplaced and over-looked a clear let off for the home nation.
Minutes earlier Hinteregger was
