John McGinn scores as Scotland keep Nations League hopes alive with win over Croatia

Scotland have kept their hopes of remaining in the top flight of the Nations League with a 1-0 win over Croatia at Hampden.

Croatia’s Petar Sucic was sent off in the first half for two yellow cards after the visitors had put Steve Clarke’s under serious pressure.

The tide turned in the second half with Scotland pressing and substitute John McGinn made the breakthrough with the winning goal in the 86th minute that not only helps the side in their fight to avoid relegation to League B but opens up the possibility of finishing second in the group and reaching the quarter-finals of the competition.

Scotland went into the game hoping to add to their solitary point from the campaign so far. Clarke had been adamant that the performances had been better than the points return suggested and with a number of players returning from injury, he had big selection decisions to make.

The manager started Middlesbrough striker Tommy Conway for the first time and opted to put his club teammate Ben Doak on from the beginning, with vice-captain John McGinn on the bench.

The defence that kept a clean sheet against Portugal was untouched and they had their work cut out as Croatia dominated the opening stages.

Andrej Kramaric put a shot wide and Luka Sucic thundered an effort over the bar as the hosts remained on the back foot.

When Scotland did have a rare breakaway, Doak showed his threat and in one move he bamboozled Josip Gvardiol before picking out Scott McTominay, whose powerful shot was saved.

The chance was one of few Scotland attacks as Croatia moved the ball around and tried to carve out opportunities. The visitors were stunned towards the end of the first half though, when they were reduced to ten men. Petar Sucic had already been cautioned for a forearm smash into Ryan Christie when challenging for a header and when he caught John Souttar with a late tackle Israeli referee Orel Grinfeeld showed a second yellow and then red.

Afer the restart, Scotland were on top and pushing home their numerical superiority but struggling to make clear cut chances. When opportunities were created, players couldn’t find the net.

Midway through the second half, Clarke brought on McGinn, Ryan Gauld and Lyndon Dykes to help in the search for a goal and they pushed for a winner.

Croatia weren’t out of it completely and Mario Pasalic put his shot wide when he really should have beaten Craig Gordon.

Scotland finally made the breakthrough in the 86th minute. Doak’s effort was saved but fell to McGinn and he smashed the ball into the ground and up into the top corner to spark wild celebrations and give Scotland a first competitive win of 2024.

The team now travel to face Poland in Warsaw, knowing that a win will see them avoid automatic relegation to League B and instead take on a second-tier side in the play-offs in March. But having brought the head-to-head record with Croatia level, Scotland could even finish second and reach the quarter-finals if Portugal defeat Croatia and there’s a three goal swing in Scotland’s favour.