Sebastien Pocognoli clinched his first win as Scotland boss at the third time of asking, as they sealed a routine win against North Macedonia.
After a goalless draw in Slovenia and a forgettable home defeat to Switzerland, this victory was just the tonic for the Scots.
Andy Robertson, bringing up his landmark 100th appearance for his country, almost marked it in style with barely five minutes on the clock. The full-back took aim with a rasping shot from outside the area which was impressively tipped over the bar by Macedonia stopper Stole Dimitrievski.
Scotland weren’t to be denied for long, though. Kieron Bowie controlled the ball on the edge of the box and fired a powerful shot into the bottom-right corner to give Pocognoli’s men lift-off.
Robertson was getting forward plenty and should really have done better when he lashed a shot wide of goal in what was becoming an explosive start by the visitors.
A bizarre incident then saw play briefly stop owing to a pitch invasion by a dog. Once play resumed, the pattern of play stayed the same with Scotland only looking like adding to their tally.
Bowie should have done better when Dimitrievski dashed out of his goal, but the Scotland man saw a shot blocked by a backtracking defender.
Pocognoli thought his side had earned a penalty not long after the restart when Ben Gannon-Doak went down in the box. The referee immediately pointed to the spot but a VAR intervention saw it overturned.
They did get a spot-kick not long after though, as VAR again waded in to clear up a scramble in the Macedonia box with a handball punished. John McGinn stepped up to confidently put it away for 2-0.
The only blot on the Scots’ copybook was a late sending-off for Scott McKenna after a clumsy foul on Gjorge Dzhekov who was advancing towards goal.
They managed to see off the little threats the hosts sent their way however, and held on for a much-needed win.
Pocognoli said: “I’m very pleased with this first win.
“Today I think we played very well, created a lot of chances, we’ve kept two clean sheets which means a lot also.
“It was a nice game, not everything was perfect because we should have scored more goals. Kieron Bowie scored the most difficult goal from the game. I was really pleased for him because I know the topic about not scoring will have been on the table after 25 minutes. I was happy for him, it’s his first goal [for Scotland]. I was really pleased with his performance and many of the lads.”
The Scots will be looking to continue the feelgood factor when Slovenia visit Hampden Park on Tuesday night.
