UEFA Nations League
Scotland 2-0 Armenia
Wednesday, 8 June 2022
Hampden Park, Glasgow

By Karen Malcolm

Scorers

Scotland 2 (Anthony Ralston 28, Scott McKenna 40)

Armenia 0

Team News

Striker Lyndon Dykes was forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad with a thigh strain, after coming off at half-time against Ukraine.

Steve Clarke made six changes to the starting eleven that lined up against Ukraine a week previous with John Souttar, Ryan Christie, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, Stuart Armstrong and Anthony Ralston all coming in to replace Scott McTominay, Grant Hanley, Liam Cooper, Aaron Hickey, Billy Gilmour and Lyndon Dykes.

Anthony Ralston was awarded his first start for Scotland while Scott McKenna earned his 25th Scotland cap.

Nathan Patterson took his place on the bench as he returned to the squad after missing the play-off semi final against Ukraine due to recovering from ankle surgery.

As It Happened

A night under the floodlights at Hampden, the anthems of both teams got proceedings underway with ‘Flower of Scotland’ being belted by the Tartan Army. The game marked the beginning of Scotland Nation League campaign in Group B1.

Scotland had their first big chance of the game after five minutes when an Andy Robertson cross met Anthony Ralston at the far side of the box and the right wing back played the ball to Stuart Armstrong. Stuart Armstrong had an effort on goal which was denied by the left hand post.

Another big chance for Scotland came two minutes later when Anthony Ralston’s cross into the box was missed by Ché Adams but was met by Andy Robertson and the Scotland captain’s effort went across the face of goal and was tipped past the right hand post by Armenian keeper Yurchenko.

Scotland got their well-deserved opener in the 28th minute thanks to a first Scotland goal from Anthony Ralston on his first start for his country. A great ball into the box from Stuart Armstrong was headered in at the back post by Anthony Ralston.

With 40 minutes on the clock, Scotland got their second of the game thanks to another first Scotland goal, this time it was Scott McKenna. A corner into the box by John McGinn was headered in at the back post by Scott McKenna. His first goal for Scotland on the night the defender earned his 25th Scotland cap.

Scott McKenna thought he had a second goal deep into stoppage time as his header off the crossbar resulted in the ball being played back into the danger area by Jack Hendry and slotted into the net by Scott McKenna however VAR disallowed the goal due to the defender being offside.

In the 62nd minute, Bichakhchyan made his way into the Scotland penalty box however some brilliant defending from John Souttar and clearance from Jack Hendry got the ball away from the danger area before the striker could have an effort on goal.

In the 76th minute, a Ryan Christie pass found Ché Adams around the penalty spot however he was unable to get the ball out from his feet and his eventual shot was blocked.

Four minutes later, Scotland saw another chance denied. Ché Adams back heeled the ball to John McGinn to lay him off in the box but John McGinn’s effort was denied by a great save from Yurchenko, the Armenia keeper.

First Scotland goals from Anthony Ralston and Scott McKenna in the first half ensured Scotland got the win in their opening Nation League group game.

Next Up

The Scots make the trip to Dublin as they take on Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday 11 June.

Teams

Scotland: Gordon, Robertson (Hickey 75), Souttar, McGinn, McGregor, Adams (Brown 86), Christie (Stewart 86), Hendry, McKenna, Armstrong (McTominay 75), Ralston (Patterson 75)

Unused Substitutes: Clark, Kelly, Hanley, Gilmour, Cooper, Turnbull, Campbell

Armenia: Yurchenko, Hovhannisyan, Haroyan, Grigoryan (Wbeymar 45), Bayramyan (Dashyan 88), Spertsyan (Udo 70), Barseghyan, Hovannisyan (Voskanyan 45), Mkoyan, Hambartsumyan, Adamyan (Bichakhchyan 45)

Unused Substitutes: Avagyan, Buchnev, Babayan, Harutyunyan, Margaryan, Mkrtchyan, Mkrtchyan