Scotland left Skopje with a 2-0 Nations League win over North Macedonia and a scoreline that badly misrepresents what took place. Scotland racked up 25 shots to North Macedonia’s nine, and 10 on target to their hosts’ none. Before Scott McKenna was sent off late in the night, the visitors had taken 37 touches inside the North Macedonia penalty area; North Macedonia had managed two inside Scotland’s.
The night belonged to Andy Robertson, who won his 100th cap and played like a man marking the occasion. The captain had four shots inside the opening 13 minutes — he had never managed four shots in a full 90 minutes across any of his previous 99 caps. Scotland had six attempts inside the first 15 minutes, and everything about the opening exchanges suggested they would be fine.
The pick of those early chances produced the opening goal. Oli McBurnie did some of the groundwork, his wait for a Scotland goal now stretching to 19 caps and counting, before Billy Gilmour got involved — a tempo-setter when dropping deep and a dangerous passer when moving forward, a player who is both a six and an eight. Then it was all about Kieron Bowie, whose footwork did for a defender and whose accuracy did for the goalkeeper.
The second came from the penalty spot, John McGinn lashing it home to draw level with Lawrie Reilly on 22 Scotland goals. After some indifferent performances, it was a strike that would have meant a great deal to him, quietening the mild questioning of his impact.
Chances kept flowing: one thunderbolt from the influential McGinn, one near-miss from Bowie after more brilliance from Ben Gannon-Doak, and an effort from McKenna that came back off the post. Only when McKenna was sent off did North Macedonia manage to string a couple of passes together and have a few shots, raising an odd cheer from their dismally small support.
It was a landmark evening too for Luis Binks, Stephen Welsh and substitute Robbie Ure, who now know what it feels like not only to play for their country but to win for it, with Binks and Welsh looking at home in the Scotland defence. The setting offered little help to the hosts — a poor pitch and a stadium without much atmosphere beyond the noisy visiting fans, plus, by way of first-half entertainment, a dog that ran on to the field. It might have offered more bite to the North Macedonia line-up than the team did.
Gannon-Doak was the game’s great tormentor. He turned North Macedonia inside out and upside down, never leaving them alone, but he also let them off the hook: blasting over with one chance, shooting tamely with another, losing composure with a third. He is 20, so there is time, but his lack of sharpness and ruthlessness is a consequence of scarce minutes at Bournemouth. Two minutes against Liverpool, 19 against Sociedad, eight against Brentford, one against Newcastle and one against Manchester City; his only start this season came in a League Cup tie against Lincoln. A January loan move might make sense — if his club allows him to go.
For Sebastien Pocognoli, the result lifted a burden. Talk of an elusive first goal, and the creeping negativity that surrounded his wait for a first win, have given way to three points, to go with the strong second half Scotland produced against Slovenia a week earlier. He now prepares for Slovenia at Hampden on Tuesday, the last of the four games in this series.
Scotland were exciting, entertaining and also frustrating: full of ambition but short of execution, creating chance upon chance without the killer touch as often as they would like. North Macedonia, hopeless and lifeless for more than 80 minutes, were put away comfortably, and it hardly matters how poor they were. The promising signs are there for the new era — but there is still plenty left to do.