The only word to describe it is bedlam. It was certainly difficult to make sense of that extraordinary finale other than to say that, ultimately, Harry Kane showed everyone right at the end why Gareth Southgate had made him captain for the day. It was the 93rd minute when Kane denied Scotland their 'football, bloody hell' moment and, in the process, that feat of escapology might have helped to secure him the armband on a longer basis.
That, however, tells only part of the story on a day when both sides experienced the exhilarating joys and excruciating disappointments of football, all in the space of a few minutes. For Scotland, in particular, it was an agonising way to finish a wild and eccentric encounter. Yet England will have their own frustrations bearing in mind they had been drifting towards a relatively prosaic 1-0 win before all that late drama when Leigh Griffiths brought the home crowd to a point of rare euphoria.
The two free-kicks that Griffiths expertly placed beyond Joe Hart came in the 87th and 90th minutes and it is doubtful Hampden has ever made a more deafening roar than when the second one curled into the England net. Before this game, the Scottish FA had announced a competition to find the greatest goal in the team's history. Both of these free-kicks could make the shortlist and at that stage Scotland were on the verge of inflicting England's first defeat in a qualifying fixture since October 2009.
Kane, though, had other ideas and it was a remarkably composed finish in the circumstances, ensuring Southgate's team remain in a position of strength at the top of Group F. Kane's right-foot volley was England's get-out-of-jail card and the story changed again. Suddenly he was running to the corner to celebrate and, all across the pitch, Scotland's players could be seen dropping to their knees.
Their grief was understandable but when they have time to reflect they should not be too disheartened when, to put it into context, Gordon Strachan's starting lineup featured three players from teams that will begin next season in England's second tier and a centre-half, Charlie Mulgrew, who had just been relegated to League One with Blackburn Rovers.
