Scotland start World Cup campaign with goalless draw in Denmark

Scotland have begun their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 0-0 draw against Denmark in Copenhagen.

Steve Clarke’s side put in a solid performance, and had chances against the top seeds but claimed a point from what is one of the toughest matches in the group.

With only six games to play in a tight qualification schedule, a good start was vital and Clarke set out an attacking team with strikers Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes both starting.

Angus Gunn returned in goals, while Aaron Hickey was at right back, marking a comeback after a long injury absence.

After an early spell on the back foot, Scotland settled and the first half was fairly evenly contested but lacking in goalmouth action.

The closest the visitors came to getting on the scoresheet was just before the break when John McGinn picked out Ryan Christie at the back post but the midfielder’s header back across goal went a couple of yards wide with Kasper Schmeichel beaten.

At the start of the second half, there was encouragement for Scotland when Scott McTominay burst into the box and cut back for McGinn but his shot was blocked. McTominay tested Schmeichel himself with a shot from a narrow angle moments later.

Scotland were reminded of the danger the hosts possess when a well-worked move led to Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg trying a side-foot shot from the edge of the area but Grant Hanley did well to block and it deflected just wide of Gunn’s near post.

With almost an hour played, Scotland had the best chance of the game. Hickey found Adams and the forward played an early ball across to Dykes on the edge of the box with only Schmeichel in front of him. The striker took too long to get his shot away though and Denmark recovered to block and clear.

The Danes went close with a shot from outside the box from Anders Dreyer that flashed past the post but Scotland were creating the better opportunities.

After 68 minutes, Max Johnston came on to replace Hickey, who hasn’t played regularly and was on a yellow card.

In his first involvement of the action, the defender cleared the ball under pressure from Mika Biereth after a long ball was thrown forward. Johnston was booked for handball before clearing, and claimed he was pushed but VAR asked the referee to go to the monitor. To the relief of everyone in dark blue, the match official stuck to his original decision and didn’t send the Scotland player off for a ‘last man’ foul.

AS the match crept towards the final ten minutes, Scotland visibly tired and Denmark had the upper hand but Clarke turned to his bench to freshen things up. Ben Gannon Doak replaced Adams, George Hirst came on for Dykes and Kenny McLean replaced Christie.

With three minutes on the clock Gunn was called into action with an impressive double save, and though Rasmus Hojlund was flagged offside it underlined how a strong performance could still fail to yield even a point.

The Scotland keeper then held a header from Hojberg in injury time and the visitors held on to claim what could be a valuable point in the group.

Next up for Clarke and his players is a trip to Hungary to face a Belarus side who lost 5-1 in Greece in their opening match.