The Albany Gazette - Scotland late show stuns Haaland's Norway

Erling Haaland's penalty looked to have kickstarted Norway's challenge to reach a first major tournament in 24 years.

But the Manchester City star now looks set to miss out on another international showpiece as Scotland's late show continued their perfect start to qualifying after three games.

Steve Clarke's men extend their lead at the top of Group A to six points over Spain and open up an eight-point advantage over Norway, with the top two qualifying.

Haaland had missed his country's opening two qualifiers against Spain and Georgia in March due to injury but he was starved of service in the first 45 minutes as Norway played harmlessly in front of the Scottish defence.

The hosts upped the tempo after the break and only Haaland's honesty handed Scotland a stay of execution as he tried to stay on his feet despite being pulled back by Jack Hendry, who had already been booked, inside the box.

Moments later there was no reprieve for the visitors as this time Haaland did go down after a pull by Ryan Porteous.

Haaland fired home his 22nd goal in 24 international appearances from the spot and Norway were left to rue not adding to their lead as Alexander Sorloth blasted inches wide and Sander Berge headed off target from a corner.

Stale Solbakken withdrew his star man with six minutes remaining, leaving Haaland helpless as he watched Scotland's incredible late fightback from the bench.

Firstly, Dykes pounced upon hesitancy in the Norwegian defence to prod home three minutes from time.

The QPR striker turned provider as his cushioned pass teed up McLean to slot coolly into the far corner.

Scotland then saw out six minutes of stoppage time to close in on a second consecutive appearance at the European Championship after a 23-year wait to make a major tournament between 1998 and 2021.

(H.Schneide--BBZ)