Scotland vs Hungary
UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers – Round 1 Playoff Second-Leg
Tuesday, 29th October 2024
Easter Road Stadium, Edinburgh

Scorers

Scotland 4 (Kerr 17’, Cuthbert 31’, Weir 55’, Thomas 65’)

Hungary 0

Team News

Scotland manager Pedro Martinez Losa made two changes to the side that emerged victorious from the first leg in Budapest on Friday night. Lee Gibson and Kirsty Hanson dropped out, with Eartha Cumings and Kirsty Smith taking their places in the starting lineup. Martha Thomas retained her place in the starting eleven and in doing so earned her 40th Scotland cap.  Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir once again captained Scotland in the absence of Rachel Corsie.

As It Happened

Hungary got the match underway in front of a noisy Scottish crowd under the floodlights at Easter Road.

It was the Hungarians who began the brighter of the two sides in the early minutes and immediately looked to press high from the front. Nicola Docherty was robbed of the ball around 30 yards from goal by winger Zeller who drove down the byline and whipped in a dangerous ball into the box though her cross narrowly evaded Papai.

Scotland’s first sight at goal came on seven minutes when Erin Cuthbert nicked the ball off Turanyi. The Chelsea midfielder worked her way past two Hungarian defenders before unleashing a drive from around 20 yards out which ultimately was well wide of Brzykcy’s right-hand post.

Scotland began to get control of the match and probably should have been ahead on ten minutes. Cuthbert successfully outfoxed the Hungarian defenders as she played a short corner to Caroline Weir who found herself in acres of space on the penalty spot though the Real Madrid midfielder dragged her shot wide of target.

Scotland soon made their dominance count though as they took the lead on 17 minutes. Howard played a delightful long-range pass between the Hungary left back and centre half which was met by the onrushing Lisa Evans. Evans picked out Sam Kerr on the cutback whose shot cannoned off the underside of the bar and off the back of Brzykcy into the back of the net.

Hungary tightened their midfield in the immediate aftermath of conceding the opener though it was Scotland once again who looked the more threatening going forward and the home side nearly added a second on 24 minutes. Emslie curled in a delightful cross towards the back post which found the head of Evans but the winger could only direct her header straight down the gloves of Brzycky.

Seven minutes later and Scotland dealt a further blow to their opponents as they made it two nil on the night. Thomas showed some excellent footwork on the right to chop inside left back, Szabo, before finding Weir on the penalty spot. The chance appeared to have gone though the bouncing ball broke to Erin Cuthbert just outside the box on her left foot. Cuthbert unleashed a trademark volley which took the slightest of deflections off Csanyi on its way to finding the top corner of the net.

Scotland began to enjoy themselves as the half wore on having large spells of possession and playing some eye-catching interchanges at the top end of the pitch. The home side won a corner on the right-hand side on 35 minutes which was taken short by Caroline Weir. Weir’s pass found Emslie who chipped the ball towards Howard at the back post with the defender sending her header just over the top of the crossbar.

The half time whistle was sounded by referee Ivana Projkovska with Scotland leading 2-0 on the night and 3-0 on aggregate at the break.

Hungary made two changes at half time and immediately showed more intent in their play in the second half’s early exchanges. The first attempt on goal of the half fell to the away side on 52 minutes when Papai found herself in space outside the box before unleashing a shot that was comfortably held by Cumings.

Much the same way as they did in the first half Scotland began to assert their control on the game after a slightly flat opening few minutes with the home side scoring their third goal of the evening on 54 minutes.

Evans was once again at the heart of the Scottish attack as she cut inside from the right wing playing a pass into the feet of Thomas. Thomas then slipped in Caroline Weir with a lovely first-time pass and the Real Madrid midfielder made no mistake with the finish as she slotted the ball past Brzycky into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Easter Road crowd were getting value for money with Scotland’s performance as they added a fourth just ten minutes later. Once again, a dangerous Lisa Evans cross was not properly cleared by the Hungarian defence and the ball fell to substitute Kirsty Hanson on the edge of the box. Her shot was deflected into the path of Martha Thomas who marked her 40th Scotland appearance with her 21st Scotland goal as she slotted home with her left foot.

Hungary continued their high pressing approach and were very nearly rewarded with a goal of their own just a minute after Scotland had scored their fourth. Kerr played a loose pass towards her own goal which was intercepted by substitute Pusztai though the striker’s shot fortunately for Scotland fell wide of Cumings’ left post.

Pedro Martinez Losa’s side were unfortunate not to add a fifth goal on 70 mins when Hanson drove down the left before cutting the ball across goal to Thomas whose shot was blocked excellently by Szabo.

Despite making several changes in the latter parts of the second half Scotland continued to threaten for a fifth goal though they just lacked the cutting edge which had been so evident for most of the match.

Pedro Martinez Losa was able to hand out a Scotland debut to Celtic midfielder Shannon McGregor as Scotland earned themselves a place in next month’s UEFA Women’s European Qualifiers Playoff Final against Finland with a five nil aggregate victory in front of a fantastic crowd at Easter Road.

Teams

Scotland: Cumings, Smith, Howard, Clark, Docherty (Napier 75’), Evans, Weir (Watson 75’), Kerr, Cuthbert (Rodgers 61’), Thomas (McGregor 85’), Emslie (Hanson 61’)

Unused Substitutes: Gibson, Fife, Mukandi, Hill, Hay, McLauchlan, Davidson

Hungary: Brzykcy, Kovacs (V. Nagy 46’), Turanyi, Nemeth, Szabo, Fenyvesi, Papp (F. Nagy 77’), Zeller, Csanyi (Kajan 46’), Csiki (V. Nagy 66’), Papai (Pusztai 59’)

Unused Substitutes: Csuhai, Fordos, Ott, Savanya, Schildkraut, Sikler, Terestyenyi