Moldova 0-2 Scotland

Opponents > Moldova > Moldova 0-2 Scotland, 2021

Going into an important game in Moldova, Dykes and Christie were suspended, and Fraser and Hanley were injured. McTominay was also left behind the day before, as he had a virus. A win for Scotland would secure second place, and a play-off spot.

Scotland almost got off to a perfect start after only two minutes when Che Adams put the ball in the back off the net, but he was flagged offside. Moldova came close two minutes later, but they shot wide. Gilmour had a shot saved, and just after 15 minutes, Armstrong also had a shot saved with Adams just missing making contact with the rebound. A minute later Robertson had a shot saved. Midway through the first half, Craig Gordon had to pull off a great save to prevent a header putting Moldova ahead. After 38 minutes, Scotland took a deserved lead. Gilmour passed to McGinn, who layed it off for the on running Patterson to hit a low shot past the keeper into the bottom left hand corner. 20 minutes into the second half, Scotland doubled their lead. Patterson and McGinn linked up well down the right, before Patterson hit a low cross into the box, for Che Adams to knock it past the keeper. With 20 minutes remaining, Cooper had a header cleared off the line, and two minutes later Adams had another goal ruled offside. With 11 minutes left on the clock, Patterson looked to have hit the ball with his arm in the box. After a long consultation with VAR, the referee awarded a penalty. Up stepped Rata, and his penalty was saved by Gordon. It looked like he was going to knock in the rebound, but Tierney raced in and pulled off a superb tackle to keep the score at 2-0. The win secured a play-off place for Scotland, and continued their run of five straight wins.