Craig Levein blames referee for night of frustration as Scots draw in Kaunas

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 22:42

As he perhaps had feared, Craig Levein was left talking up a draw after Scotland failed to break down Lithuania in Kaunas last night. It puts the Scots under pressure to win against Liechtenstein on Tuesday in the second match of a European Championship qualifying campaign that got off to a stuttering start.

• Craig Levein: Unhappy with ref

Lithuania held Scotland at bay in a scrappy match. But, once again, a meeting between the countries was provided with a bitter after-taste following Levein's complaint about the tactics employed by the hosts, and the standard of refereeing. This time it was not simulation which angered Scotland, but instead what Levein described as "blatant" attempts to disrupt his side's momentum. The Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir cautioned just three Lithuanian players in a match littered with fouls. Levein accused the Lithuanians of having adopted anti-football tactics in order to spoil the game, although the ends justified the means as far as they were concerned. Scotland simply could not find a way past their stoic opponents, whether the tactics employed by their hosts were under-hand or not.

The row could not obscure the facts of an evening which left Scotland now desperately requiring a victory against Liechtenstein next week. Anything less will test even Levein's capacity for optimism. But he was looking on the bright side last night following Scotland's first clean-sheet on the road since the 1-0 victory against France, three years ago. Little else called to mind that historic evening.

"I think we deserved more," said Levein. "I am not disappointed that we got a point away from home. I said when the group was drawn that our nearest challengers would be Lithuania and Czech Republic. We picked up a point away from home. From my point of view it's not the end of the world. I thought we were the better side, and all that we lacked really was a goal."

During the post-match press conference Levein was distracted by a voluble Lithuanian television reporter, who repeatedly asked him why he thought Lithuania should have been given more cards. "For what?" the gentleman, who was wearing a Lithuania scarf, asked. An irritated Levein said he had already explained what his "biggest disappointment" had been.

"Any time we got any momentum going at all it was free-kick after free-kick after free-kick," he said. "Guys in their team had five or six fouls and did not get booked. It baffles me how they ended up with two or three bookings.

"The challenge at end on Alan Hutton (made by Lithuanian substitute Kestutis Ivaskevicius, who was not booked] was outrageous. It must have been a plan of some sort - any time we got any momentum going to give away a free-kick. It was just so blatant.

"The frustrating thing for me is that Broony (Scott Brown] got booked for his first foul. If it was a tactic then there's not an awful lot we can do about it.It's important that the referee looks after that side of the game, and he didn't."

Lithuania manager Raimondas Zatautas would not be drawn into the row: "Some of it was our fault, some of it was Scotland's."

After a run of away games when Scotland have been conceding multiple goals, this was certainly a more organised performance. The defence held out well when put under pressure from Lithuania. Up front, however, it was a familiar story. Scotland struggled to carve out chances. When they did, most obviously at the start of the second half when Kenny Miller directed a header straight at the Lithuanian goalkeeper, poor finishing let them down.

Levein explained why James McFadden had been left out of the starting line-up. "Away from home it is a different game," said Levein. "I went for those who have a lot of energy. It worked in that regard - my plan was to win the ball as high up the pitch as possible and we did that regularly. James has enormous assets - he can win a game out of nothing. But I set out the team to be as solid as possible."