OFFSIDE! The home side work their way through the Malta lines before Armstrong feeds Forrest, but as he shoots the offside flag is raised.
The referee ends the contest.
90' +2
Scotland are knocking the ball around the back to see this contest out with relative ease.
90'
There will be three minutes of added time.
89'
CHANCE! Robertson releases Phillips into the left inside channel, but the winger fails to hit the target as he blasts his effort over the bar.
88'
Martin is not overly happy that the supply to him is taking an age to get there. However, with the game in the bag Strachan will not be wanting to see mistakes from his players.
86'
A. Muscat enters the game and replaces S. Borg.
Muscat replaces Borg for the visitors.
85'
P. Fenech enters the game and replaces B. Kristensen.
Kristensen is replaced by Fenech.
Armstrong bursts through the middle of the Malta defence and goes for goal from 25 yards, but he cannot generate enough power on his effort to trouble Hogg.
83'
The pace of the game has dropped significantly as we approach the end of the contest. The home side are determined to see this one out with a clean sheet.
81'
Forrest bursts down the right flank and send a low cross to the edge of the box for Armstrong, but his touch is heavy and prevents the strike. Malta are able to clear their lines and come away from their own box.
78'
Scotland are not forcing the issue here and seem quite content to see out the 2-0 victory. The clash between England and Slovakia is heading in their favour as the Three Lions are leading at Wembley.
Minute
Description
76'
CHANCE! Zerafa beats Tierney down the left flank and fires the ball low towards the near post. Gordon makes the save but he palms the ball out into the six-yard box. Effiong almost reaches it, but Hanley does enough to put him off the strike. Gordon is able to gather at the second attempt.
75'
Forrest collects from Robertson in an advanced position down the left flank, but Agius comes in with a strong challenge to clear the danger.
72'
WIDE! Robertson lifts a cross into the box that is cleared as far as the edge of the area. Armstrong collects and goes for the strike on the half-volley, sending his effort wide of the post.
71'
L. Gambin enters the game and replaces A. Schembri.
Schembri is replaced by Gambin for the visitors.
70'
C. Martin enters the game and replaces L. Griffiths.
Griffiths is forced off and is replaced by Martin.
68'
Griffiths goes down and appears to be in difficulty on the pitch. He might have to be withdrawn here.
67'
Griffiths gets the wrong side of Muscat as he latches on to a throughball from Morrison, but he can only drill his effort straight at Hogg.
65'
Griffiths swings another dangerous cross into the box, but Hanley has his hands all over Agius, giving the referee an easy decision to award a foul.
63'
Malta are trying to stop the supply to the wings, but are still holding their five-man backline in reserve. It's tough going for Scotland like it has been all evening.
61'
WIDE! The home side build patiently down the flanks before switching it with pace to the opposite wing. Tierney drifts in from the right to strike the ball with his left foot, but he powers his effort past the post.
59'
Scotland work the balll from right to left and Armstrong finds Robertson to send a cross in from the left. However, the Liverpool man's accuracy lets him down on this occasion, sending the ball over the heads of everyone in the box.
56'
G. Hanley enters the game and replaces C. Mulgrew.
Hanley replaces Mulgrew for the home side.
For once the visitors are able to clear their lines from the resulting corner, although Schembri does his best to cause problems firing the ball across the edge of his own area.
55'
SAVE! Scotland break upfield following the restart and Phillips leads the charge down the left flank. He picks out Forrest on the edge of the box, who drags the ball on to his left foot before firing at goal, but Hogg turns his effort wide of the post.
53'
Mulgrew goes down as he gets caught under an aerial challeng with Effiong and Brown. The game halts as he requires treatment.
51'
OVER! Malta almost conjure an immediate response as Pisani collects on the edge of the box, but he can only lift his over the bar. Close for the visitors.
49'
L. Griffiths has scored a goal for Scotland!
GOALLLLLLL!!!!! GRIFFITHS DOUBLES SCOTLAND'S LEAD! The home side are in command now as Griffiths taps home from close range. Robertson's low cross caused havoc in the box as Morrison latched on to the ball, but saw his effort deflected on to the post. Griffiths capitalised on the rebound and turned his effort into the net.
48'
SAVE! Phillips works his way across the edge of the box before teeing up Forrest to strike. The midfielder hammers his effort at goal, but Hogg beats the ball away.
47'
Morrison gets involved straight away into the action as he picks out Griffiths on the edge of the box, but the forward is crowded out before he can shoot.
46'
J. Morrison enters the game and replaces J. McArthur.
McArthur makes way for Morrison at the break.
We're back underway at Hampden Park.
45'
SHOT! Phillips goes for a long drive from distance on a break away, but his effort is parried by Hogg and gathered at the second attempt.
The referee ends the first half.
43'
Malta win a free-kick in a decent position, but Schembri wastes the opening as he tries a training-ground routine set-piece, but his pass to Effiong goes astray.
42'
Robertson breaks out from the back and leads the charge down the left, but Griffiths fails to keep himself onside to latch on to his forward pass.
39'
Frustration for Phillips as he robs Muscat of possession on the edge of the Malta box, but the referee awards a free-kick to the visitors.
38'
Agius gets himself in a tangle at the back as he misses his clearing header from a long ball. Griffiths aims to pounce, but he can't bring the ball under control, losing possession on the edge of the box.
36'
WIDE! Berra comes in unmarked at the back post again from a Scotland corner to meet Griffiths' delivery, but the defender heads wide of the post.
34'
Schembri curls a cross towards the back post and the ball bounces awkwardly, but the communication between Gordon and Mulgrew is good enough to allow the keeper to gather.
33'
Mulgrew needs to defend well at the back post as Pisani sends a dangerous cross aiming for Effiong's run. However, the defender clears his lines, while Borg slices his effort on the rebound off target.
32'
Tierney collects in space down the right and he cuts back on to his favoured left foot, but he curls his effort straight at Hogg.
30'
OVER! Griffiths is not happy himself as he curls his left-footed strike over the bar from 30 yards. There are high expectations of the forward after his heroics against England.
29'
R. Fenech gets yellow.
Fenech brings down Griffiths to go into the book. Scotland have a free-kick in the forward's range.
28'
Phillips raids into the right inside channel to latch on to McArthur's pass, but there's no blue shirt there to attack his low ball across the face of goal.
27'
Hogg is put under immense pressure at the back by Borg as Griffiths and Robertson close in on the keeper, but he manages to clear his lines.
24'
Scotland work the ball around the edge of the box, but cannot get a shot away. Robertson collects in the inside left channel, but Agius diverts his low cross behind.
22'
OVER! Berra attacks another corner this time from the left flank from Griffiths' delivery, but on this occasion he heads his effort over the bar.
21'
Magri has to be alert at the back to stop Forrest's low cross into the box as Armstrong lurked behind him at the back post. Griffiths was again influential in the build-up.
19'
Malta are not allowing the home side out of their own half at the moment. A positive sign for Ghedin's men.
17'
Scotland clear the danger from Pisani's corner, although Kristensen goes down in the box, with the referee dismissing a potential penalty claim.
16'
Malta ease the pressure on their backline by winning a corner down the left flank, although there are not a great deal of men pushing forward.
15'
Griffiths collects the ball 30 yards from goal, and despite having options around him, he goes for the strike, sending his effort harmlessly wide of the post.
13'
WIDE! Robertson turns the ball into the path of Armstrong in the box, but the midfielder slams his powerful strike into the side-netting.
11'
That goal will ease the tension around the stadium. It took an age for England to break the deadlock on Friday and that affected their play in the first half. Scotland can now operate with freedom in the final third.
9'
C. Berra has scored a goal for Scotland! Assist by L. Griffiths.
WIDE! From the resulting corner the ball is cleared only as far as Robertson, but his stinging drive is deflected wide of the post.
GOALLLLL!!!!! SCOTLAND TAKE THE LEAD! Berra opens the scoring for the Scots this evening, easing the pressure around Hampden Park. Griffiths sent a cross deep to the back post from the corner and the centre-back meet it with a thumping header, guiding his effort into the bottom corner. The perfect start for Strachan's men.
Griffiths sends a pinpoint delivery to the back post for Berra to head home.
8'
SAVE! Griffiths drives in from the right flank and fires a left-footed strike at goal, but it's blocked into the path of Armstrong. He aims a strike towards the bottom corner, but Hogg turns the ball past the post.
7'
BLOCK! Phillips puts a low cross into the box that is spilled into the path of Griffiths by Hogg, but the ball just does not fall for the striker. McArthur collects and smashes a low strike towards the net, but a wall of red shirts denies him the opener.
5'
WIDE! Armstrong and Forrest combine down the right and the latter goes for the strike at goal, firing his effort wide of the post.
4'
The visitors break out from their own half and Schembri wins a free-kick down the left, but Pietro Ghedin's men fail to threaten from the set-piece.
2'
Malta are already putting 10 men behind the ball in their bid to stifle the home side.
The team news has been announced and we'll start with the home side.
Malta battled well against the Three Lions on Friday, but were eventually put the sword by Gareth Southgate's men. They will be looking to provide the same level of resistance this evening against the Scots, despite losing all seven of their contests thus far.
Gordon Strachan's men put in an excellent performance against Lithuania to keep their hopes of qualiying for the World Cup alive. They pulled within three points of second-place Slovakia and will be desperate for England to triumph in their contest this evening to close the gap.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the World Cup qualifying clash between Scotland and Malta at Hampden Park.
Malta subs: Mifsud, Farrugia, C Borg, Gambin, Bonello, Muscat, Failla, Fenech, Johnson.
Scotland are unchanged from their win over Lithuania as Strachan keeps the same players that fared extremely well in their win on Friday. Leigh Griffiths impressed without getting on the scoresheet and he will be supported once again by a three-pronged unit of Matt Phillips, Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest.
Malta have made one change from their defeat at the hands of England. Alfred Effiong comes into the team to lead the line alongside Andre Schembri, replacing Jean Paul Farrugia.
FLASHBACK: Scotland hammered Malta 5-1 in the reverse fixture last September. Robert Snodgrass put Strachan's men ahead before Effiong equalised. However, Chris Martin restored his side's advantage before Snodgrass notched his hat-trick, with Steven Fletcher also getting on the board.
The players are out on the pitch so we should be underway shortly.
HALF-TIME: SCOTLAND 1-0 MALTA
Scotland have the lead at the break against Malta thanks to Christophe Berra's header in the ninth minute. However, Gordon Strachan will not be pleased with his side's performance as their passing and general attacking play has been wasteful in the final third. The visitors have had a couple of forays into the Scotland half and it only takes one of them to turn into a goal to level the scoreline at the moment.
The players are back out for the second half, so we should be back underway shortly.
FULL-TIME: SCOTLAND 2-0 MALTA
Scotland's hopes of qualifying are alive and well as they put in a professional performance to see off Malta this evening. Goals from Christophe Berra and Leigh Griffiths secured the three points that takes them within a point of second-place Slovakia in Group F. Gordon Strachan's men have given themselves an opportunity to reach their first major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. All eyes will be on their next match against Slovakia in October.
Thanks for joining our commentary this evening. Until next time, goodbye.
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