Scotland hammered Malta 5-1 in their World Cup qualifier on Sunday evening.
Malta’s Steve Borg in action with Scotland’s Matt Ritchie
Scotland kicked off their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign with a bang as they hammered Malta 5-1 in Attard – and manager Gordon Strachan hailed Matt Ritchie and Barry Bannan when speaking to The Scottish Sun.
Strachan’s men are looking to qualify for their first major tournament since 1998, and got off to a great start as Robert Snodgrass put Scotland in front after just nine minutes.
Scotland’s Robert Snodgrass celebrates scoring with Barry Bannan
Malta sprung a surprise though as they equalised through Alfred Effiong, but Scotland reasserted their dominance after half time, with Chris Martin and Steven Fletcher both finding the net, whilst Snodgrass scored twice to complete hat-trick as Malta ended the game with nine men after two red cards.
Scotland will obviously face tougher challenges as they must take on England and Slovakia twice yet, but it was the ideal start for manager Strachan – and he picked out a few players who impressed him.
Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie and Huddersfield Town’s Chris Lowe in action
Speaking to The Scottish Sun, Strachan stated that Newcastle winger Matt Ritchie and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan were both ‘excellent’ against Malta, whilst also praising Snodgrass and Darren Fletcher.
“I thought Barry Bannan was excellent under pressure,” said Strachan. “Matt Ritchie excellent, Snodgrass just when the pressure was on. They were good and Darren Fletcher, as well, never flinched,” he added.
Wide man Ritchie has enjoyed a strong start to the season having made his summer move from Bournemouth, and his performance against Malta again demonstrated just why Rafael Benitez wanted him at St. James’ Park.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan looks dejected
Meanwhile, midfielder Bannan is set to be a key part of the Sheffield Wednesday team which will hope to go one better than their play-off final defeat last season, but he’ll need to keep his place in Carlos Carvalhal’s team if he’s to retain his spot under Strachan.
Both players will be delighted with their exploits on international duty, and if they can turn in similarly ‘excellent’ displays for their clubs over the course of the summer, Benitez and Carvalhal will certainly be delighted.
What did you think of Bannan and Ritchie’s performances against Malta?
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