Scott McTominay scored a brace to help Scotland produce one of the most comfortable football scores of the weekend in Euro 2024 qualifying. McGinn, an Aston Villa midfielder, scored his 16th goal for the national team in the first half after a deflected cross from Andrew Robertson. McTominay, who had a shot blocked minutes before coming off the bench, slammed the ball into the roof of the net late in the game to secure the victory in Group A. The Manchester United man added another goal in injury time to round off a comfortable afternoon against the visitors, who only managed one effort on goal.
Steve Clarke chose Norwich goalkeeper Angus Gunn over Hearts’ Zander Clark and Motherwell’s Liam Kelly for his Scotland debut against Cyprus. Ryan Porteous, a recent Watford signing who burst into the club in the autumn, continued on the right side of a three-man defense alongside Grant Hanley and Kieran Tierney. Rangers’ Ryan Jack began in midfield alongside Celtic’s Callum McGregor, while Stuart Armstrong started in attack alongside Southampton teammate Che Adams instead of Ryan Christie. Scotland got off to a fast start, with McGinn’s low shot going inches wide of the far post after just nine minutes. Aaron Hickey’s powerful shot was deflected past the post by Cyprus goalkeeper Demetris Demetriou.
Cyprus had a brief period of possession, and Gunn was called into action for the first time after 17 minutes, comfortably collecting Grigoris Kastanos’ low shot. Scotland seized the lead two minutes later when McGinn pounced on Robertson’s deflected cross and side-footed it into the net. With the visitors looking for an equalizer, skipper Kostakis Artymatas attempted an audacious 35-yard shot. As it sailed high over the bar, the consequence was predictable. There were gasps from the fans as Gunn stumbled while attempting to catch a simple pass, but he recovered in time to prevent a nightmarish debut.
Scotland applied more pressure, and Adams’ powerful strike was deflected over the bar as halftime approached. The hosts stayed in command after the interval, although their creativity in front of the goal was limited. Lyndon Dykes replaced Adams soon before the hour mark after the Southampton attacker sustained a leg injury.
Scotland then came agonizingly close to scoring again when Armstrong released Robertson on the left, but his cross was barely ahead of Hickey. Demetriou stopped Armstrong’s powerful strike before Clarke replaced him and Jack with McTominay and Ryan Christie. Both substitutes had efforts blocked in rapid succession as Scotland pressed for a second goal. Cyprus’s first shot on goal came in the 85th minute, but Gunn was ready to save substitute Andronikos Kakoullis’ effort.
McTominay retrieved the ball from Dykes and slammed it into the roof of the net to secure the victory before adding a third goal deep into extended time. Cyprus was reduced to ten men in the final seconds of the game when Nicholas Ioannou received a second yellow card.
“It’s a better start to the European Championships than we’ve had in a long time. It is obviously critical to score as many points as possible against teams seeded lower than you, especially at home,” Scotland manager Steve Clarke said. “I think Cyprus was good; they were structured, but we were able to contain them and our goal was not jeopardized. It’s a good start, a really nice start to the group, and now we have to try to back it up against the Spaniards on Tuesday night.”
“We are constantly striving to improve. It is quite rare to get a flawless performance, but that is what you must strive for. Having said that, if you don’t have the perfect performance on Tuesday night but win, you’ll be satisfied,” he added. “I keep telling the players that we’ve come a long way, but the next step towards becoming one of the best teams in Europe and a constant pot-two team is difficult. You must eliminate slack times in the game that allow the opposition to believe they have a chance.”
“Steve Clarke will be overjoyed to collect three points and get off to a flying start in the group, and with Spain visiting Hampden on Tuesday night, it will be a challenging game, but this was the most crucial one for Scotland,” Kris Boyd said.
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