Scotland defeat North Macedonia 2-0 as Pocognoli earns first win in Skopje
Kieron Bowie and John McGinn scored in Skopje to give Sebastien Pocognoli his first victory as Scotland head coach on Andy Robertson's 100th cap.
Early breakthrough in Skopje
Scotland earned their first win under head coach Sebastien Pocognoli on Saturday night, defeating North Macedonia 2-0 at the Tose Proeski National Arena in Skopje. Striker Kieron Bowie opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a left-foot shot from 25 yards after receiving a pass from Billy Gilmour. The goal ended a 422-minute scoring drought for Scotland, who had gone four consecutive fixtures without scoring since defeating Haiti in their opening group match at the World Cup in June. The early strike also prevented Scotland from approaching their longest goal drought in national team history, a 477-minute run recorded between 1970 and 1971.
Robertson milestone and tactical control
Pocognoli made two changes to the starting lineup that suffered a 3-0 defeat against Switzerland on Tuesday, bringing in Stephen Welsh for the suspended Jack Hendry and starting Ben Gannon-Doak at right wing-back for Nathan Patterson. Captain Andy Robertson earned his 100th international cap, moving within two appearances of Sir Kenny Dalglish's Scottish record of 102 caps. Robertson tested goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski with two early attempts from wide angles, while the match also featured a brief first-half stoppage when a dog ran onto the playing surface.
Penalty award and VAR reviews
North Macedonia manager Goce Sedloski made a double substitution after 30 minutes to counter Scotland's pressure, but the home side produced only two shots compared to Scotland's 13 attempts across the match.
- Scotland
- 13 shots
- North Macedonia
- 2 shots
In the 50th minute, referee François Letexier awarded Scotland a penalty for a foul by Matejib Gashtarov on Gannon-Doak, but overturned the call following a video assistant referee review. Scotland doubled their lead in the 69th minute after another VAR review identified a handball by Rangers forward Bojan Miovski blocking a Bowie effort. John McGinn converted the spot-kick to score his 22nd international goal, drawing level with Lawrie Reilly for fourth place on Scotland's all-time scoring list.
Prior to the fixture, McGinn addressed the demands of international competition during a press appearance in Skopje.
The nature of the beast is, at club and country, you have a lot of responsibility, a lot of weight on your shoulders. When you do something well, you're the best thing since sliced bread. When you don't have a great couple of games, or you're not producing assists, or you make a poor pass in a pivotal moment of the game, you're automatically not good enough.
Late dismissal and group standings
Scotland finished the match with ten men after defender Scott McKenna received a red card in the 83rd minute for denying a goalscoring opportunity to substitute Agon Elezi following a misplaced pass by Robertson. McKenna's dismissal led Pocognoli to bring on Stoke City centre-back Luke Graham for his international debut in place of Gilmour.
- Kieron Bowie scores the opening goal from 25 yards.
- Goce Sedloski makes a double substitution for North Macedonia.
- Referee François Letexier overturns a Scotland penalty after a VAR review.
- John McGinn converts a penalty awarded for a Bojan Miovski handball.
- Scott McKenna receives a red card for a foul on Agon Elezi.
McKenna will be suspended for Scotland's next Group B1 fixture against Slovenia at Hampden Park on Tuesday. The result gives Scotland four points after three Nations League matches, while North Macedonia have now gone 13 months without a win and seven consecutive games without scoring a goal.
