Norway 4-0 Scotland: Scots Crushed By Norwegian Efficiency

Norway pulled off a deserved and emphatic 4-0 win over ten-man Scotland as they rescued their World Cup hopes at the expense of those of the visitors.

Norway seemed the team more likely to score in the opening stages, as Gary Caldwell had to work hard to keep tabs on the lofty John Carew.

Just as it seemed Scotland had dodged a bullet after Riise's awful miss, tragedy stuck the Tartan Army. Gary Caldwell was penalised for the final time after a series of fouls on John Carew and subsequently found himself dismissed from the pitch. Then to rub salt in the wounds, John Riise stood over the free-kick and sent a deflected thunderbolt straight into Marshall's net.

Ross McCormick was then sacrificed to make way for a replacement centre-back in the form of Christophe Berra. During the time the Scots were trying to adjust to their new line-up and praying for half-time, tragedy struck once more when Morten Gamst Pedersen found enough space in the visitors' box to take the score to 2-0 as the whistle blew for the break.

Still reeling from the loss of his brother, Steven Caldwell was subbed off soon after the restart when he brought Carew down on the edge of the box. The temperament of the Caldwells was poor on the night, and the ensuing free kick from the reckless challenge almost allowed Carew to add his name to the scoresheet.

After a catalogue of failed attempts, Carew looked like he would finally get himself on the scoresheet after 60 minutes had passed. The giant Villa striker was to be denied again though as his strike came off both posts and rolled to the feet of Erik Huseklapp. The Norwegian made no mistake scoring from 6 yards into the open net. 3-0 Norway.

Carew's luck began to become something of a comedy as he managed to lose out on a sure thing yet again. The Norwegian stuck for goal, hitting the bar in the process. The ball dropped onto the line and looked as though it had crossed, but the linesman said nothing doing as Carew put his head in his hands. Eventually Egil Olsen took pity on the striker and opted to take him off the pitch.

As the Norwegian's continued to bombard Scotland into the dying stages of the game, a poor challenge from Graeme Alexander awarded Morten Gamst Pedersen one last chance at goal before the final whistle. The perfectly taken free-kick was swung round the wall by the Blackburn Rovers man and easily found the top left corner of Marshall's net before the whistle was blown and the Scots were allowed to leave the pitch that they were so badly humiliated on.