John McGinn keeps Scotland’s Nations League hopes alive as Ben Doak steals show

THE referee gave Scotland an extra man.

John McGinn made it count.

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Croatia were left livid by the first-half red card for midfielder Petar Sucic.

But their moans and groans were drowned out by the celebrations at Hampden by the Tartan Army.

The Aston Villa star climbed off the bench to give the home support the victory they’d been waiting for.

It had been five long months since a pre-Euros win over Gibraltar.

But McGinn’s late strike after brilliant play from man of the match Ben Doak brought the run to an end.

It’s onto Poland now in Warsaw on Monday with a fighting chance of claiming third place in the Nations League group to avoid relegation.

There wasn’t a whole lot for the Tartan Army to get excited about in the first-half.

But Doak had flashes of brilliance on another night when he proved he was born to play at this level.

One early clever turn and sprint away from Man City left-back Josko Gvardiol was thrilling.

That certainly was a moment to get the home fans up off their seats.

It was one of the surprise decisions from Clarke to name the 19-year-old in the line-up ahead of fit again McGinn.

But Doak’s pace and fearlessness gave one of the most expensive defenders in the world a torrid time.

In truth, though, the Scotland attacks were few and far between throughout the first-half.

Tommy Conway was picked ahead of Lyndon Dykes to lead the line in another bold call from Clarke.

But the Middlesbrough frontman hardly had a meaningful touch despite his best efforts to make himself available.

Croatia were very much the dominant team.

Little Luka Modric played countless probing passes with the outside of his right foot.

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You could have stuck him out in the carpark and he would probably still found a team-mate.

On another night the visitors could easily have taken the lead before the break.

Craig Gordon made his first real save after nine minutes with the studs of his Puma boots keeping out a near post shot from striker Andrej Kramaric.

There was another blasted effort on target from Luka Sucic he had to punch away to safety.

But the talking point of the half came in 43 minutes when his cousin was sent off.

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Petar Sucic had been booked after half an hour for a late challenge on Billy Gilmour.

It wasn’t the wildest tackle anyone had ever seen from the Dinamo Zagreb midfielder.

But it was a yellow card he could have few complaints about.

When it came to his second caution which led to his red, Croatia were up in arms and livid.

Kramaric was so incensed his team were being reduced to ten men he went into the ref’s book for complaining too fiercely.

But his anger was nothing compared to their coach, Zlatko Dalic.

He made a bee-line for the officials when the half-time whistle went and had to be ushered away.

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His assistant refused to follow him up the tunnel and got shown a yellow card.

They just couldn’t believe the decision.

But Sucic only really had himself to blame for being so stupid in challenging John Souttar on the halfway line from a position where he was never going to be able to win the ball.

The Rangers defender screamed in pain because of the impact and the Israeli referee was absolutely right to reach into his pocket again. 

It was a brave call but by the letter of the law the correct one.

The question was whether or not Clarke’s side could take full advantage of the extra man.

They certainly couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.

The problem was Croatia had their hackles up and came out for the second half with a clear determination to win the game even with a man less.

Being patient was vital for Scotland.

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They had time on their hands to score and take the lead and didn’t need to rush things.

Yet there was a panicked start to the second-half.

Doak kept going at Gvardiol at every opportunity and was the biggest threat the team had all night.

He did well to keep the ball alive at the back post after deep cross from the left.

But there was no-one with composure inside the box.

Next Gilmour hit Row Z with an effort when Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski was miles off his line.

Clarke cut a frustrated figure down on the touchline and understandably so.

He’d made one change at the break, taking off injured Grant Hanley and replacing him with Scott McKenna.

But it was a different threat from middle to front that was required.

In 66 minutes Ryan Christie, Kenny McLean and Conway made way for Ryan Gauld, Dykes and McGinn.

It was three changes that lifted the crowd at a time when they desperately needed lifting.

Croatia were never out of it.

They still had more than enough talent on the pitch to create chances of their own.

They were also able to bring on talents like Ivan Perisic and Mario Pasalic off the bench for the final 25 minutes.

In 75 minutes Pasalic really should have fired the visitors ahead.

Modric found him with a threaded pass which Tony Ralston couldn’t deal with, but the Atalanta star failed to hit the target.

But in 86 minutes Scotland got the break.

Doak got past Gvardiol for the umpteenth time to fire a ball across goal the goalie could only punch away.

But when it landed for McGinn he smashed into the net.

• Scotland XI: Gordon, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmour, McTominay, McLean, Doak, Conway, Christie. Subs: Labrović, Ivušić, Pongračić, Moro, Pašalić, Vlašić, Perišić, Pašalić, Oršić, Sosa, Pjaca, Matanović.
• Croatia XI: Gordon, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmour, McTominay, McLean, Doak, Conway, Christie. Subs: Slicker, McCrorie, McGinn, Dykes, Shankland, Taylor, Barron, Porteous, McKenna, Armstrong, Gauld, Devlin.

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