Scott McTominay was once again the goalscoring hero as Scotland beat Spain 2-0 in a magical night at Hampden Park.
Ahead of the current Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, Steve Clarke signed a new contract that would keep him in charge of Scotland until 2026, and he has celebrated that deal in fantastic fashion. At the weekend, Scotland beat Cyprus 3-0 to get their qualifying campaign off to the best possible start, but the big test was coming.
Spain also won their opening game 3-0, with only disciplinary points separating the two sides at the top — though at this early stage that doesn’t really matter. Nonetheless, a win here would have been a big statement for either side, especially as Norway had earned just one points from their opening two games. But who would have predicted this?
It was a feisty affair at Hampden Park with bad blood between the two sides that wouldn’t look out of place in Scotland vs England. Perhaps Spain were rattled early on from going a goal down inside seven minutes, as Scotland started perfectly.
Scotland were advancing up the left and though there was a heavy pass, Andy Robertson kept pressing, panicking Pedro Porro who slipped, handing the Liverpool man possession just inside the Spain box on the byline. With a smart look up, Robertson played a first time ball back to McTominay whose effort was slightly tame but beat Kepa Arrizabalaga via a deflection.
A coolly timed run into the box and finish from McTominay, regardless of the luck, the Manchester United man was showing signs of a kid who started his career as a centre forward before eventually being switched to midfield. Spain grew into the game as the half went on, but Scotland had their chances too and managed to hold on to the break.
“That was magic, that was a magic 45 minutes of football,” Ally McCoist told Viaplay at half time.
“From Scotland’s point of view, brilliant. Nicked a goal, could have added to the lead, could have lost a couple of goals, everything was happening.
“There was a couple of penalty claims, people diving down in the box, what a 45 minutes of football that was.”
Scott McTominay's game by numbers vs Spain:
86% passing accuracy
28 touches
4 ball recoveries
3 duels won
2 clearances
2 shots
2 goals (again)McSauce sinks Spain. ??????? pic.twitter.com/myaCAPna9N
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Scotland weren’t resting on their laurels in the second half, no plans appeared to be in place to sit back and hold onto the lead at that point. And within five minutes, they were 2-0 up. It came from a counter-attack as Kieran Tierney dispossessed Dani Carvajal just inside the Scotland half, bursting down the wing and beating the Spaniard again for strength.
Once in the box, Tierney’s ball wasn’t the best but it fell to McTominay on another great off-the-ball run to the edge of the area and his first-time bouncing finish was powerful and beat Arrizabalaga. A second brace in as many games for McTominay, the Man Utd man has scored Scotland’s past four goals across all competitions, a shock for those who had watched him net just once in his first 37 caps.
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Scotland then sat back and held onto the 2-0 win, their first victory over Spain since November 1984 when there was another brace, this time from Mo Johnston in a 3-1 win — Johnston was the last Scotland player to score two in a game against Spain before McTominay on Tuesday night.
“Always, as a kid I was an attacking midfield player and then I stretched a little bit, I got a little bit too big for that, the little ones in between the lines, but then I was more of a sitting midfield player,” McTominay told Viaplay.
“But I like to do both, I like to get into the box and obviously help my teammates defend as well. For me I’ve got to keep doing that, I know that I can add more goals and assists to my game and I think the last two games have been a good example of that.”