Andy Robertson and his team mates were outclassed, outpassed and outplayed by their impressive opponents for much of the World Cup qualifier and could have no complaints when they fell behind to a Kostas Tsimikas goal in the second half.
But Scotland’s heart could not be faulted. Ryan Christie quickly restored parity, Lewis Ferguson gave his country the lead late and Lyndon Dykes came on and added a third for good measure in injury-time. It was an incredible fightback, bizarre even.
The national team are level with Group C leaders Denmark going into their meeting with Belarus at Hampden on Sunday. They will take confidence from their spirited showing.
Here are five talking points from a remarkable night.
Same old Scotland
Most Scotland fans expected Clarke to revert to a five man defence with Kieran Tierney back in the squad. However, he kept faith with the 4-2-3-1 formation which had been so effective in the meetings with Denmark and Belarus last month and left the Celtic full-back, who normally plays at centre-half for his country, on the bench.
Would leaving out an individual who has often been one of his best performers during his reign out backfire? It seemed a smart move not to mess with a formation which had worked well during the previous double header. But there were subtle tweaks to the system.
For a start, it was Christie who dropped deep alongside Ferguson in central midfield. The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle kid has been deployed there by Bournemouth for some time and has done superbly in the role. Scotland fans have been clamouring for him to be given a chance there for some time. Well, they got their wish.
The change meant that Scott McTominay formed a new-look threequarter line behind lone front man Che Adams with John McGinn and Ben Gannon-Doak. Would that enable the Napoli man to wreak the same sort of havoc going forward as he did during Euro 2024 qualifying? The home supporters in the large crowd hoped so.
But it was Greece, despite the absence of their exciting young talent Konstantinos Karetsas from the starting line-up, who looked more likely to net during early exchanges which quickly silenced the boisterous crowd.
Scots spooked
The visitors showed why they had strolled to a comfortable and deserved 3-0 victory on their last visit to Mount Florida back in March in the eighth minute when they cut open the hosts’ defence.
Captain Tasos Bakasetas ghosted past Aaron Hickey and squared across the six yard box. Vangelis Pavlidis had the simplest of tasks to score. But he failed to make contact and the scoreline somehow remain goalless.
But that scare seemed to spook Scotland. The sat back and defended after the let off, struggled to get out of their own half. The atmosphere inside the packed ground grew more subdued, more nervous, the longer the Greeks had control of proceedings.
Gunn mettle
The complete lack of game time which Angus Gunn has had at Nottingham Forest this season has frustrated the Scotland goalkeeper enormously.
He knew that he would be second choice behind Mats Selz when he moved to the City Ground in June. But he was assured he would feature in cup ties and that has not, due to the arrival of John Victor, happened.
The former Norwich City player will move on in January. But would his lack of match action be an issue? He was decent against Denmark and Belarus in September. But those are his only outings this term.
Gunn was, despite the difficulties which the national team were experiencing, not tested greatly during the opening 45 minutes. However, he did well to hold a powerful Pavlidis attempt which took a nasty deflection and showed no signs of rustiness whatsoever. He tipped a Karetsas shot which was destined for the top left corner of his net over in injury-time to keep it 2-1.
Hickey blow
It was clear when fussy, whistle-happy, hopeless Norwegian referee Espen Eskas blew for half-time that changes were required. The match had passed Christie and Ferguson by. McTominay had hardly been involved. Adams had received next to no service from his team mates.
Scotland filed to register a shot on target in the first half. There xG was 0-06. The situation cried out for Billy Gilmour to be brought on. The Napoli man could have given his country greater control in the middle of the park, could have brought McGinn Gannon-Doak and McTominay into things.
But the side remained the same and Ivan Jovanovic’s charges continued to launch wave after wave of attack. Giorgos Masouras should have broken the deadlock after being teed up in space in the hosts’ area. He sliced his effort over the crossbar.
Clarke finally made two changes – but one of them was injury-enforced and the other was not well received in the stands. Hickey pulled up with a hamstring strain and was replaced with Tony Ralston. Gilmour took over from fan favourite Gannon-Doak and Christie moved forward and out wide.
Thank Christie!
The wisdom of the switches was questioned when Tsimikas finally put Greece in front following another slick attacking move. But their joy only lasted for a couple of minutes. Scotland equalised at a Christie corner.
The ball broke to Ralston outside the penalty box, the right-back chipped it forward and Grant Hanley rose and nodded it on. Ntinos Mavropanos tried to clear the danger, but he only succeeded in supplying Christie. The midfielder gratefully accepted the gift as the stadium erupted.
Ferguson cranked up the decibel levels when Robertson floated a free-kick into the area with 10 minutes of regulation time remaining. It fell kindly for the Bologna captain and he opened his account at international level. Substitute Dykes capitalised on an error by keeper Kostas Tzolakis in injury-time and made it 3-1.
Clarke has now taken charge of Scotland on 71 occasions. That is the same as Craig Brown. The Ayrshireman has not had many more satisfying outings during his six-and-a-half year tenure.