by
Scott McTominay’s late double secured Scotland a comfortable winning start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign at home to Cyprus.
John McGinn’s close-range finish – the Aston Villa midfielder’s 16th goal for his country – was reward for a dominant first-half display.
Substitute McTominay eased increased nervousness around Hampden with a clinical 87th-minute finish.
And the Manchester United midfielder added his second moments later.
Steve Clarke had billed it as a must-win game against Group A’s lowest seeds, who ended the game with 10 men after a late red card for Nicholas Ioannou, and it was job done in that sense.
But the Scotland head coach will know that, despite their first winning start to a Euro qualifying campaign since 2006, improvement will be needed as top seeds Spain visit on Tuesday.
More to follow.
Line-ups
Scotland
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Gunn
- 15PorteousBooked at 74mins
- 5Hanley
- 6Tierney
- 22HickeySubstituted forPattersonat 80′minutes
- 20JackSubstituted forChristieat 67′minutes
- 8McGregor
- 3Robertson
- 7McGinn
- 17S ArmstrongBooked at 14minsSubstituted forMcTominayat 67′minutes
- 10AdamsSubstituted forDykesat 58′minutes
Substitutes
- 2Patterson
- 4McTominay
- 9Dykes
- 11Christie
- 12Kelly
- 13Hyam
- 14Gilmour
- 16Cooper
- 18Ferguson
- 19Brown
- 21Clark
- 23McLean
Cyprus
Formation 3-5-1-1
- 12Demetriou
- 13KousoulosSubstituted forSpoljaricat 45′minutes
- 6GogicSubstituted forLoizouat 79′minutes
- 14Roberge
- 15Antoniou
- 10KyriakouSubstituted forCharalampousat 68′minutes
- 18Artymatas
- 19Laifis
- 4IoannouBooked at 90mins
- 20KastanosBooked at 32minsSubstituted forTzionisat 79′minutes
- 23PittasSubstituted forKakoullisat 68′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Panagi
- 2Karo
- 3Antoniadis
- 5Charalampous
- 7Efrem
- 8Ioannou
- 9Christofi
- 11Kakoullis
- 16Spoljaric
- 17Loizou
- 21Tzionis
- 22Spoljaric
Live Text
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Match ends, Scotland 3, Cyprus 0.
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Second Half ends, Scotland 3, Cyprus 0.
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Second yellow card to Nicholas Ioannou (Cyprus).
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Offside, Cyprus. Kostakis Artymatas tries a through ball, but Andronikos Kakoullis is caught offside.
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Goal! Scotland 3, Cyprus 0. Scott McTominay (Scotland) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Andrew Robertson.
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John McGinn (Scotland) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Valentin Roberge (Cyprus).
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Lyndon Dykes (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Danilo Spoljaric (Cyprus).
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Attempt missed. Minas Antoniou (Cyprus) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Charalampos Charalampous.
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Ryan Porteous (Scotland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Andronikos Kakoullis (Cyprus).
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Attempt missed. Andrew Robertson (Scotland) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Lyndon Dykes.
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Scott McTominay (Scotland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Danilo Spoljaric (Cyprus).
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Goal! Scotland 2, Cyprus 0. Scott McTominay (Scotland) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the top left corner. Assisted by Lyndon Dykes with a headed pass.
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Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Konstantinos Laifis.
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Attempt saved. Andronikos Kakoullis (Cyprus) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Charalampos Charalampous.
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Hand ball by Marinos Tzionis (Cyprus).
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Foul by Ryan Christie (Scotland).
How to play
Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.
Rating range key = Give it up = Pure perfection
Scotland
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Squad number1Player nameGunn
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Squad number15Player namePorteous
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Squad number5Player nameHanley
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Squad number6Player nameTierney
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Squad number22Player nameHickey
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Squad number20Player nameJack
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Squad number8Player nameMcGregor
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Squad number3Player nameRobertson
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Squad number7Player nameMcGinn
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Squad number17Player nameS Armstrong
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Squad number10Player nameAdams
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Squad number2Player namePatterson
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Squad number4Player nameMcTominay
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Squad number9Player nameDykes
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Squad number11Player nameChristie
Cyprus
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Squad number12Player nameDemetriou
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Squad number13Player nameKousoulos
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Squad number6Player nameGogic
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Squad number14Player nameRoberge
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Squad number15Player nameAntoniou
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Squad number10Player nameKyriakou
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Squad number18Player nameArtymatas
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Squad number19Player nameLaifis
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Squad number4Player nameIoannou
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Squad number20Player nameKastanos
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Squad number23Player namePittas
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Squad number5Player nameCharalampous
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Squad number11Player nameKakoullis
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Squad number16Player nameSpoljaric
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Squad number17Player nameLoizou
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Squad number21Player nameTzionis
