Scotland bounce back to beat Armenia in Nations League

Scotland came back from a goal down to beat Armenia 4-1 and keep their Nations League promotion hopes alive.

Armenia took a surprise early lead but two goals from Stuart Armstrong and strikes from John McGinn and Che Adams sealed a vital win for Scotland.

Steve Clarke and his players were looking to put a dismal defeat to Republic in Ireland behind them and take three points that could be crucial with tougher tests to come in the next international break in September.

Injury had robbed the manager of Andy Robertson, Scott McKenna and John Souttar and Clarke made four changes to his side, freshening things up for a fourth game in 13 days.

With a win almost essential to hopes of winning the group, Scotland were aiming for a good start but it was Armenia who started brightest and took a shock early lead.

Tigran Baseghyan beat Grant Hanley on the right and had time to look up before cutting the ball back for Vahan Bichakhchyan to finish from close range.

Scotland responded quickly, equalising in the 14th minute. A ball in to Che Adams saw the striker attempt an overhead kick but his acrobatic efforts failed and the ball dropped to Stuart Armstrong who slammed his shot into the net from 12 yards out.

Armenia were causing plenty of problems and testing the Scotland defence at every opportunity but made the task hard for themselves just before the break. Defender Arman Hovyannisyan lunged at Patterson with a reckless tackle and then squared up to McGinn, motioning to headbutt the Scotland captain. Both incidents brought the Armenian yellow cards and he was sent off.

With the seconds ticking down to the break, things got even better for the visitors. McGinn got free and and set up Armstrong, who finished with another crisp shot to put Scotland 2-1 ahead.

After the restart, with a man and a goal advantage, Scotland established themselves more firmly in the game and got further reward.

McGinn scored a third after 50 minutes when a deep cross from the left was cushioned back into the middle by Patterson and the captain for the night drew the ball in, turned and smacked his shot past David Yurchenko.

With the result as good as certain, Scotland then added to the scoreline and Adams netted a much needed goal. Armstong sent the striker free in the left channel and he cut back inside and finished with power and accuracy.

A string of substitutions took the pace out of the game and neither side saw major chances, with just one further incident. A late and dangerous challenge from Kamo Hovyannisyan earned him a straight red card.

The final moments against nine men passed without trouble and Scotland picked up three points to finish the international break with a flourish.