Georgia 2-2 Scotland: Lawrence Shankland comes off bench to recue late point in Tbilisi

Lawrence Shankland’s stoppage-time equalizer rescued a point for Scotland as they kept their slim hopes of topping their Euro 2024 qualifying group alive with a late draw in Georgia.

That dramatic equalizer, which prevents Steve Clarke losing a fourth consecutive game in his 50th match in charge, came after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia twice gave Georgia the lead.

The Napoli winger first put a low ball from Otar Kakabadze to slide in his 13th goal in 27 caps, then took that tally to 14 just before the hour when he cut in off the left and drilled low past Zander Clark, who was making his first start.

That strike came just eight minutes after free-scoring Scott McTominay netted his seventh goal of the qualifying campaign with a deflected second-half equalizer from the edge of the home box.

But that effort was one of the few opportunities the Scots had created until Shankland rose at the back post to net his second international goal.

To secure top spot in Group A, Scotland will need to beat Norway at Hampden in their final qualifier on Sunday (19:45 GMT) and hope Spain lose at home to the Georgians.

More to follow.

Match stats

• This was the sixth meeting in all competitions between these sides, and the first in which the home side has failed to win. Scotland had lost both previous visits to Georgia without scoring.
• As it stands, only Romelu Lukaku (10) and Cristiano Ronaldo (9) have scored more goals in Euro 2024 qualifying than Scotland’s Scott McTominay (7).
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been involved in 15 goals in his last 17 appearances for Georgia in all competitions (11 goals, 4 assists).
• McTominay’s seven goals in qualifying is the joint-most by a Scotland player in a single campaign, along with Steven Fletcher (Euro 2016) and John McGinn (Euro 2020).
• Georgia had six shots on target, their joint most this European Championship qualifying along with the six they had against Cyprus last month.