McTOMINAY SAVOURS GRANDDADDY OF ALL GOALS DEEP INTO FAMILIAR ‘FERGIE TIME’

AS a certain former Manchester United manager watched from the stands at Hampden, how fitting that a current midfielder who is starring at Old Trafford should pop up in Fergie time.

Having received an honorary cap at the national stadium yesterday evening — 54 years after he represented his country — Sir Alex Ferguson must have been scratching his head as the clocked ticked down and two precious points were about to slip out of reach.

Thankfully, a familiar face — one he has watched develop from boy to man — arrived at the perfect moment to send the nation into a state of delirium.

Look, it’s clear it wasn’t Scott McTominay’s finest game. There is still an uncomfortable feeling about the 24-year-old playing in a three-man defence as opposed to midfield where he impresses for United.

But like his team-mates, he stepped it up in the second half against Israel and bundled home a precious late winner to seal a 3-2 triumph to keep Scotland on track to finish second in Group F. They all count, right?

Beaming with pride at full-time — struggling to come to terms with the drama that had unfolded in a brilliantly bonkers game of football — McTominay was relieved he could dedicate his first goal for his country to someone special.

‘It’s my grandad’s birthday on Monday, so I knew I had to score,’ he said. ‘That’s for him. It’s certainly not the best goal I’ve scored. It’s amazing, I can’t put it into words. I don’t know what minute the goal was! It’s one that I’ll never forget.’

McTominay, like everyone in dark blue, realised at half-time that they had not

reached the levels they are capable of.

‘We know Israel are a difficult team,’ he added. ‘In the first half, we were so poor. But in the second half, it was complete domination. We were extremely good and created numerous amounts of chances.

‘We had to wake up. Israel were more alert and compact as a team. We knew as players we had to wake up — and we did.’

McTominay wasn’t the only player relieved at full-time on Glasgow’s south side.

Lyndon Dykes — having watched a woeful first-half penalty saved by Ofir Marciano — made amends when he scored to make it 2-2.

The pause as VAR checked whether the referee was right to initially disallow the goal for a high boot and book the QPR striker made for uncomfortable viewing.

Thankfully, his effort stood, with Dykes proclaiming afterwards: ‘I knew I didn’t hit his face. Without VAR, it probably wouldn’t have been a goal, so I was lucky on that front.

‘But I was glad the ref went over to the screen as he was telling me it was no goal. I was happy to score and get us back in the game.

‘It’s a huge win. Everyone knows where we are in the table. But we have another few games to play, so we have to focus on them. We came here to win and we’ve done that.’

Scotland captain Andy Robertson has seen this movie before as the national team made life difficult for themselves. This time, however, there was a pleasant plot twist.

‘We would rather win the game 2-0, 3-0, and be comfortable but that’s not Scotland, unfortunately,’ said the Liverpool left-back. ‘I’ve grown up watching the national team, it’s always been the same and you never get used to it. We should make it more comfortable in games but tonight was all about concentration. We’ve worked a lot on set-pieces. We got one good ball into the box and McTominay was in the right place.

‘It’s hard to sum it up. The first half wasn’t us. It’s not what we build ourselves on under the manager. But we knew we could play a lot better in the second half.

‘We dictated the game, we created chances and pushed them. I’d rather the goal didn’t come too late but sometimes those goals are the better ones because you don’t have to hang on. Look, it’s a big result. We know how important it is but it’s only important if we use it properly. We’ve still got three games left in the group and we need to keep pushing.

‘We gave away a stupid foul after making it 1-1. One of us dropped too early with the line that we agreed on. It’s so poor from us. You have to keep it tight when you get on level terms. But, unfortunately, we were behind again and we’ve got another uphill battle.

‘In the second half, the boys did so well. Some really struggled in the first half but they then showed big character.’