Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Scotland defeated Belarus on Monday evening in World Cup qualifying.

Although Scotland started the match looking the brighter of the two sides going forward, they were forced into some defensive actions early on, as Steve Clarke’s men were looking a bit sloppy at the back. The two most notable moments early in the match were when Angus Gunn almost gave the ball away to a Belarus forward after a pass back, and when Kiril Pechenin skillfully breezed past John McGinn and put a threatening ball into the box, but Scotland’s defence dealt with it.

In the 40th minute, Belarus once again found themselves in on goal, but Gunn was equal to Max Ebong’s low effort at his near post to keep the match level.

Just minutes after Belarus almost took the lead, Che Adams scored to put Scotland 1-0 up. John McGinn whipped a superb, lofted ball to the back post, and Scott McTominay met his cross, and the big man headed it across goal and Adams managed to get his foot on it to tap it home and put his side in the lead. Although, prior to the goal, Belarus had the better goalscoring opportunities, Scotland were playing some really nice football, and on the whole, deserved the lead.

The first half came to a close with Scotland in a 1-0 lead.

In the 65th minute, Scotland had their lead doubled thanks to Zakhar Volkov heading the ball into his own net. The move from Scotland, which led to the own goal was very well worked, as Che Adams played an excellent chipped ball into the box into the path of Billy Gilmour who attempted to head the ball across goal to Scott McTominay, but before the Napoli midfielder could get to it, Volkov got his head to the ball and put it into his own net.

In the 82nd minute, Che Adams went close to scoring a brace, but after rounding the goalkeeper, his shot was cleared off the line by Pavel Zabelin. Zabelin’s goal-line clearance was the last action of the match, and Scotland picked up an important three points with a 2-0 win.

Match Highlights

To follow soon…

Belarus Player Ratings

GK: Fedor Lapoukhov – 7/10

Made some pretty decent saves throughout the match, but there is nothing he could have done about the goals which Scotland scored.

RWB: Sergei Karpovich – 5/10

Hardly saw any of the ball and struggled to deal with Gannon Doak. Karpovich was substituted at half-time after a relatively poor first-half showing.

CB: Egor Parkhomenko – 6.5/10

Decent when playing the ball out from the back and produced many blocks, clearances and recoveries.

CB: Zakhar Volkov – 5/10

Put in a pretty decent defensive performance, but scored an own goal in the 65th minute, which ultimately put the match to bed for his side.

CB: Pavel Zabelin – 6.5/10

Produced an excellent goal-line clearance to deny Adams his second goal. The big defender made plenty of blocks and clearances.

LWB: Kiril Pechenin – 7/10

By far Belarus’ brightest player. Pechenin had a very lively start to the match, where he put a dangerous cross into the box and showed great skill by breezing past McGinn. Defensively, he was also steady and didn’t really put a foot wrong.

CM: Max Ebong – 6.5/10

Had a few bright moments in the final third during the first half, but couldn’t convert his chances. Ebong also worked hard and pressed well, which made the Belarus midfield hard to break through.

CM: Vladislav Kalinin – 6.5/10

Didn’t have much to do with the ball at his feet, but like his midfield partners, he remained organised and defended and pressed very well.

CM: Maksim Myakish – 6.5/10

Stayed organised and pressed well, which made his side hard to break down at times, but he hardly had anything to do with the ball at his feet.

ST: German Barkovsky – 5.5/10

Dealt with quite easily by the Scotland defenders, but managed to be a nuisance at times with his pressing.

ST: Evgeni Malashevich – 5.5/10

Worked hard and pressed well, but had no service and didn’t produce anything in the final third of the pitch.

SUB: Vadim Pigas – 6/10

Defensively solid after he came on, but never really ventured into Scotland’s half.

SUB: Trofim Melnichenko – 6/10

Had a few shots at goal, but nothing which really tested Gunn.

SUB: Valeri Gromyko – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Nikita Demchenko – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Vladislav Malkevich – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Scotland Player Ratings

GK: Angus Gunn – 7/10

Had a few relatively routine saves to make, but outside of that, Gunn wasn’t really tested and didn’t have much to do with the ball at his feet either.

RB: Max Johnston – 6/10

The Derby man’s delivery into the box and final ball were pretty poor, and he also had some shaky moments defensively, especially early in the match against Pechenin.

CB: John Souttar – 7.5/10

Very good and effective when playing the ball out from the back, and also very calm defensively, rarely putting a foot wrong.

CB: Scott McKenna – 7.5/10

Just like his centre-back partner, Souttar, McKenna was also good with the ball at his feet and was fairly comfortable defensively.

LB: Andrew Robertson – 8/10

Saw more of the ball than any other Scotland player, and he was very good with it. The Liverpool defender broke forward down the left flank plenty of times, but also didn’t put a foot wrong defensively.

CM: Billy Gilmour – 7.5/10

Saw plenty of the ball and controlled the midfield at times. The Napoli midfielder also got into some good areas in the final third and was instrumental in Scotland’s second goal.

CM: Lewis Ferguson – 7/10

Had some tidy moments when in possession of the ball, and also worked hard off the ball and pressed well when he needed to.

CM: John McGinn – 7/10

Put some good crosses into the box, but outside of that, McGinn didn’t have too much involvement in the match.

AM: Scott McTominay – 7.5/10

Provided a very good headed assist for Adams’ opening goal. McTominay didn’t see as much of the ball as his other midfield players, but he was very effective with what he was given.

ST: Ben Gannon Doak – 8/10

Scotland’s brightest creative spark. The Bournemouth forward caused the Belarus defence a lot of problems with his pace and skill, but he also had some great moments of link-up play with his teammates and worked his socks off.

ST: Che Adams – 8/10 (Man of the Match)

Took his goal well and put in a very well-rounded performance. Adams played in a variety of different ways, and he was effective whether he was running in behind the Belarus defence or whether he was dropping deep to create and bring others into play.

SUB: Ryan Christie – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Aaron Hickey – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Kenny McLean – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.​​​​​​​

SUB: Lyndon Dykes – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.​​​​​​​

SUB: Lennon Miller – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.