Scotland vs Croatia
UEFA Nations League A Group 1
Friday, 15 November 2024
Hampden Park, Glasgow  

Scorers

Scotland 1 (John McGinn 86’)

Croatia 0 

Team News

Steve Clarke made just the one change from the side that drew with Portugal at Hampden last month. Tommy Conway came into the starting eleven in place of Che Adams and in doing so made his first start for Scotland.

Che Adams and Lewis Morgan were forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury with Stuart Armstrong being called up in their places.

As It Happened

Croatia got proceedings underway in front of a packed crowd under the floodlights at Hampden Park.

The game began evenly in the opening exchanges though the first chance fell to the away side when carelessness in possession from Scotland gifted the ball to Andrej Kramaric who could only divert his shot wide of target.

Croatia should have been ahead on five minutes. Calls for a foul on Billy Gilmour were waved away by the referee before Kramaric picked up the ball inside the penalty box once more. He passed to Martin Baturina who moved it onto Luka Sucic, but the winger skied his shot over the crossbar.

Croatia continued their early momentum and once again had the chance to take the lead. Scott McTominay was dispossessed by Luka Modric who passed to Mateo Kovacic. The Manchester City midfielder drove through the midfield before passing to Kramaric whose shot was saved well to his right by Craig Gordon.

After a nervy opening 15 minutes or so for Scotland their first chance fell on 18 minutes. Tommy Conway dropped deep to receive the ball from the defence before passing to clubmate Ben Doak. Doak swivelled past Josko Gvardiol before cutting back to Scott McTominay whose shot was saved by keeper Dominik Kotarski.

Croatia continued to test Scotland’s defensive resolve as the half went on. On 25 minutes lovely footwork from Luka Sucic on the right allowed him to cut inside onto his left foot. The Real Sociedad man whipped in a dangerous cross across the face of goal that fell narrowly wide of Gordon’s right-hand post.

Scotland continued to from the front approach and were very nearly rewarded for their efforts. Doak once again got the better of Gvardiol before swinging in a right footed cross that narrowly evaded the head of McTominay. The ball fell to Kenny McLean on the edge whose volley sailed over the bar.

Craig Gordon was called into action again moments later when a Modric corner fell to Luka Sucic around 25 yards out. He unleashed a powerful drive that was parried clear of danger by the Scotland stopper.

As the first half began to peter out referee Orel Grinfeeld sprung the Hampden Park crowd into life when he produced a second yellow card for Croatia’s Petar Sucic after a late challenge on John Souttar.

Scotland began the second half brightly, buoyed by the red card at the end of the first. Ryan Christie swung in a corner kick from the right-hand side, which was met by the head of McTominay, but the Napoli midfielder could only steer his header off target.

A huge chance then came and went for the home side on 57 minutes when a mistake at the back by Ajax defender Josip Sutalo fell to Billy Gilmour in space though the Napoli number six could only steer his shot high and wide of Kotarski’s goal.

Soon after a triple change was made by Steve Clarke, another big chance fell to Scotland. Substitutes Ryan Gauld and the returning John McGinn combined well on the left with Gauld sending a looping cross to the back post that was met by Doak though the Middlesbrough man’s shot was well over the bar.

Moments later yet another chance fell to Scotland on 70 minutes when Ben Doak drove down the right side towards the byline before cutting back to Billy Gilmour whose eventual shot was blazed well over Kotarski’s crossbar.

Despite Scotland’s large amounts of pressure over the course of the second half Croatia squandered a massive chance of their own on 74 minutes when Real Madrid midfielder and Croatia captain Modric played a beautifully lofted pass into substitute Mario Pasalic, but the midfielder could only poke his shot wide of Craig Gordon’s left-hand post.

Scotland’s second half pressure reaped its due rewards in the 86th minute when Ben Doak who’d given Josko Gvardiol a torrid time all evening got down the byline once again. His cross was saved initially by Kotarski, but the ball fell to McGinn on the penalty spot who kept his cool to slot home via the aid of a deflection to put Scotland one up with just minutes to play.

Despite late pressure from the away side as they searched for an equaliser, Scotland held firm to secure their first victory of their Nations League A Group 1 campaign and in doing keep their hopes of survival well and truly alive ahead of a trip to Warsaw on Tuesday night.  

Next Up

Scotland are in action for the final time in Nations League A Group 1 when they travel to face Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday evening.

Teams

Scotland: Gordon, Ralston, Robertson, McTominay, Hanley (McKenna 45’), Souttar, Gilmour, Christie (Gauld 67’), Doak (Armstrong 90+2’), Conway (Dykes 67’), McLean (McGinn 67’)

Unused Substitutes: Slicker, McCrorie, Shankland, Taylor, Barron, Porteous, Armstrong, Devlin

Croatia: Kotarski, Jakic (Pjaca 82’) , Gvardiol, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Kovacic, Kramaric (Pasalic 65’), Modric, Baturina (Vlasic 75’), P. Sukic, L. Sukic (Perisic 65’)

Unused Substitutes: Labrovic, Ivusic, Pongranic, Moro, Pasalic, Orsic, Sosa, Matanovic