Scotland consolidated their impressive point against top seeds Denmark on Friday evening by doing the necessary against bottom seeds Belarus.
It was a strange atmosphere in this closed doors encounter, and there were one or two nervy moments in the first half just to keep the watching Tartan Army back home in Scotland on their toes, but a goal just before the interval from Che Adams and a Zakhar Volkov own goal after the break meant that it was job done for Steve Clarke and his men after a professional performance.
Here are the talking points from the ZTE Arena in Zalaegerszeg…
Scotland sitting pretty with one third of the journey to the World Cup complete
It may not have been the prettiest of football over the piece from Scotland over the two games in these opening World Cup qualifiers, but Clarke and his players are sitting more than pretty in their section.
Had you offered the Scotland head coach four points from a visit to Copenhagen to face top seeds Denmark and this trip to neutral Hungary to face group whipping boys Belarus then he would have bitten your arm off, and the way that Denmark disposed of Greece on this same evening perhaps highlighted just how impressive that performance in Parken actually was.
If the Scots can take a measure of revenge on the Greeks at Hampden next time out in October after what happened when the teams last faced one another, then they will be in a wonderful position to think about securing second place at the very least. Not that you’ll catch Clarke admitting it.
Che Adams shows he is still the man to lead the line
The Torino striker may have struggled to convince many he is the man to lead the line for Scotland, and he has suffered long spells of frustration in front of goal for the national side.
The emergence of Kieron Bowie at Hibs has also excited the Tartan Army, and there was a mini-clamour for the big frontman to be unleashed in this international break. Maybe it has also given Adams a little bit of added motivation.
Clarke, true to form, stuck with his tried and tested, and Adams more than repaid his faith over these two games.
In Copenhagen, his second half performance in particular was impressive for its industry and some invention too in creating the best chance of the night for Lyndon Dykes, and he took that up a notch here with the all-important opener and a lovely bit of skill to create Scotland’s second.
His goal was a striker’s finish from all of a couple of yards, the forward doing well to read that Scott McTominay’s header from a delicious John McGinn delivery would come back across the six-yard box, and he got himself into the right position to tap it home.
With Belarus remaining packed tightly into their area in the second half, it was then he who produced a bit of guile to unlock them again, scooping a brilliant ball over the top for Billy Gilmour to cross and force Volkov into the own goal.
Strange night a reminder or worse times
A certain former Scotland manager once said that football without fans is nothing, and while this night and the result for the national team could prove to mean rather a lot in the end in their quest to end the long wait for World Cup qualification, you could more than see his point here.
One of the most memorable Scotland nights in recent history was of course during the Covid shutout, but that wonderful evening in Belgrade aside, I’m sure it is a time most of us would rather forget.
We were all served a reminder here though of just how soulless football could be without supporters in the stands, and the fact that the Tartan Army couldn’t be in the stadium for this one for reasons that had nothing to do with them was harsh on both the fans and the Scotland team.
In that context, and given the stark contrast to the atmosphere in Parken on Friday evening, the Scottish players deserve a lot of credit for getting themselves going again and maintaining their intensity, especially when it would have been easy for them to become frustrated as the Belarusians sat deep and broke up the game by winning cheap free kicks in the first half.
Hampden in October will be a different proposition altogether.
Ben Gannon-Doak excites once more
It seems to be a peculiarly Scottish trait that we don’t like to get too ahead of ourselves. In football terms, we tend to even be wary of allowing anyone else to get too excited about our young talent.
So, Clarke isn’t alone in that, but there is clearly only so long that he can calm the hype surrounding Gannon-Doak.
He was a box of tricks again here, showing some delightful touches and some jinking runs that showed just why the Tartan Army are so enthused about what he can bring to the national side.
The country will be praying he can stay fit and get a run of games at Bournemouth between now and October so that he can be fully up to speed and is ready to be unleashed on the Greeks. What a talent.
Angus Gunn calms nerves around goalkeeping position
There are understandable question marks around the number one position, but Gunn has performed well over these two matches despite his lack of game-time at club level.
He was solid enough in Copenhagen despite a late scare when he missed a punch, and he again stood tall here, making one crucial save when a defensive mix-up saw Belarus get a clear sight of goal just before the Scots opened the scoring.
Whether he plays for Nottingham Forest between now and October or not, he now looks a stick on to keep a hold of the gloves for his country.
