Match Report: Superb Scotland Beat Toothless Spain
March 31st, 2023 | Football
A great night at Hampden Park for Scotland as Steve Clarke’s side beat possession hungry Spain 2-0, thanks to a brace from Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay.
As per usual, Spain had a lot of the ball, 75% possession on this occasion, but like we saw in Qatar during the World Cup, they were very toothless all night, only really threatening the Scotland goal when striker Joselu hit the bar with a header 23 minutes in.
Spain continued to play their way, keeping possession at a low tempo and trying to patiently wait for Scotland to open up and present any gaps to exploit. But Scotland held firm and were not really troubled for most of the game as they defended brilliantly in their 5-4-1 formation, sitting deep, limiting space and frustrating Spain.
The Scotland players all seemed to win their individual duels, while playing at their highest level, which is exactly what they needed in a game against a good team like Spain.
When in possession Scotland were dangerous throughout the game, countering quickly and committing players forwards at the right times. If you take away the two McTominay goals, Scotland still had the better chances and were the more threating throughout, with Christie, Dykes and Shankland all having good chances and McGinn nearly scoring from a cheeky free-kick attempt 57 minutes in.
Scotland’s two marks on the scoreboard both came through two left-footed strikes from Scott McTominay.
The midfielder’s first of the match came when he rushed into the Spain box to finish a pullback from Scotland Captain Andrew Robertson, firing his first time strike into the net. His second came as Kieran Tierney bombed forwards from the back-three and saw his cross bounce into the path of McTominay who volleyed in his and Scotland’s second of the night.
Scotland put in the effort, kept their discipline and kept going right up until the last while, managing to see out the win and earn a huge three points. This result and the win over Cyprus are a very positive start for Scotland’s EURO 2024 qualifying campaign.
Scotland top Group A with six points, scoring five goals and conceding none across their first two matches.
Next up for the Scots, in their quest to qualify for EURO 2024 in Germany, is an away fixture against Norway on the 17th of June at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo.
Jack
Jack is at university studying sports journalism. He writes these articles for work experience. If anyone reading this knows of any work experience opportunities please get in touch. We would appreciate it.