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Scotland rue Iwelumo miss after goalless draw with Norway

11/10/2008

Scotland were left to rue a missed open goal by debutant Chris Iwelumo after their World Cup qualifier against Norway ended goalless at Hampden Park.

Moments after coming off the bench, the Wolves striker was presented with a golden opportunity but prodded the ball wide from three yards out with the goal at his mercy.

However, it was one of the few clear-cut chances the home side created despite opting for an attack-minded 4-3-3 formation.

Instead it was Norway, mostly thanks to Aston Villa striker John Carew, who looked most likely to score.

The giant forward was denied on a number of occasions by Scottish goalkeeper Rob Gordon. He was also unlucky to see a goal-bound effort cleared by Gary Naysmith and Gary Caldwell who had both managed to scramble back.

Although George Burley's side enjoyed much of the possession in the first half they were unable to penetrate the Norwegian defence.

Indeed they were spending so much time in the Norwegian half that the visitors began to look threatening on the counter-attack.

After Carew had gone close twice Gordon had to be at full stretch to deny his long-range effort. The rebound fell to Bjorn Helge Riise but his shot was high and wide.

The second half brought more of the same, with Carew a constant threat and Kjetil Waehler heading into the side netting from a corner.

Those chances prompted Burley to bring on Iwelumo and it nearly paid dividends immediately. Naysmith fired in a low cross that evaded the clutches of the Norwegian keeper but despite having plenty of time Iwelumo could not find the target from close-range.

In the closing stages Shaun Maloney went close with a couple of efforts but again could not direct his shots on target.

Scotland were relieved when another Waehler header struck the post and Gordon denied Steffan Iversen.

The draw puts Scotland on to four points from their first three games and means they are likely to need at least a draw when they travel to Norway for the return fixture.