Pocognoli celebrates first Scotland win | OneFootball

Sébastien Pocognoli celebrated his first victory as Scotland head coach as his side defeated North Macedonia 2-0 in Skopje.

Scotland made a flying start, with Andrew Robertson seeing an early effort saved before Kieron Bowie opened his international account after seven minutes. Billy Gilmour found the forward on the edge of the area and Bowie created space before firing into the bottom corner.

The visitors continued to dominate, with Stole Dimitrievski making several important saves to deny Robertson and Ben Gannon-Doak as Scotland searched for a second.

Gannon-Doak remained a threat after the break and won a penalty, only for the decision to be overturned following a VAR review. Scotland were eventually awarded another spot-kick when Bojan Miovski was penalised for handball, with John McGinn sending Dimitrievski the wrong way.

Scotland were reduced to 10 men late on when Scott McKenna was sent off for a challenge on Agon Elezi. Pocognoli’s side nevertheless held firm to claim a deserved win and move level on points with second-placed Slovenia in Group B1.

Incidents: The story of the match

Macedónia do Norte Official Line-ups:

Stole Dimitrievski, Bojan Ilievski, Visar Musliu, Sebastian Herrera, Anes Meljichi, Mario Mladenovski, Enis Bardhi, Elif Elmas, Luka Stankovski, Matej Gashtarov, Bojan Miovski

Escócia Official Line-ups:

Angus Gunn, Scott McKenna, Luis Binks, Stephen Welsh, Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour, Ben Gannon-Doak, Oliver McBurnie, Kieron Bowie

1':

The match begins

Scotland takes the lead 1-0 against North Macedonia. Kieron Bowie scores with a left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom right corner, assisted by Billy Gilmour.

7':

GOAL Scotland: Kieron Bowie (Scotland) scores!

Kieron Bowie scores goal number 1 in the competition (3 matches)

John McGinn scores for Scotland with a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner. The score is now North Macedonia 0, Scotland 2.

69':

GOALScotland: John McGinn (Scotland) scores penalty-kick!

John McGinn scores goal number 1 in the competition (3 matches)

83':

Red Card for Scott McKenna (Scotland)

Scott McKenna has now picked up 0 red in the competition (3 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match