Scott McTominay continued his stunning Euro 2024 qualifying form as Scotland brushed aside Cyprus 3-0 to move within touching distance of Germany.
The Manchester United midfielder opened the scoring in the sixth minute in the AEK Arena in Larnaca with his sixth goal in five games before Ryan Porteous volleyed in his first international goal nine minutes later.
The three points were effectively secured in the 29th minute when McTominay set up John McGinn for a third and the Old Trafford man hit the woodwork late on as the visitors cruised to victory.
Steve Clarke’s side have now won five out of five Group A qualifiers to sit nine points ahead of Spain having played two fixtures more.
Scotland host England in a 150th anniversary heritage match on Tuesday night and if Norway and Georgia draw in their qualifier the same evening then the Scots will have reached their second successive European Championships.
And if that scenario does not materialise then there are still games against Spain, Georgia and Norway to finish the job themselves.
Scotland could hardly have been in better form going into the match in Larnaca, having gone eight competitive games unbeaten, including wins over Spain and Norway.
And it seemed like a Scotland home game with more than the official 3,728 Tartan Army members inside the 8,056-capacity stadium.
Temur Ketsbaia’s team had lost their opening three qualifiers, including a 3-0 defeat at Hampden Park in March and so confidence was rightly high in the visiting camp.
Che Adams rather than Lyndon Dykes led the Scotland line, closely supported by McGinn and McTominay and they all combined for the opener.
A quick Adams throw-in released skipper Andy Robertson down the left and when he stood his cross up, McGinn flicked on inside the six-yard box – it looked like he had miscued it – for McTominay to head in at the back post.
Cyprus’s positive reaction saw striker Pieros Sotiriou hit the bar a minute later but the offside flag was up before attacking midfielder Grigoris Kastanos tested Scotland keeper Angus Gunn with a long-range drive.
In the 13th minute Kastanos came close with another powerful drive from 25 yards before the Scots doubled their lead.
Robertson’s deep free-kick in to the home penalty area was headed onwards by Jack Hendry and fellow centre-back Porteous took a touch before firing past Cyprus keeper Joel Mall.
Just before the half-hour mark a fine Scotland move down the right ended with McTominay setting up the unmarked McGinn to curl in his 17th Scotland goal from the edge of the box.
Scotland were playing with a swagger and McTominay drove just wide from 20 yards before McGinn shot from inside his own half.
The tension had gone from the game but Kastanos again made Gunn react quickly to save another effort from distance.
McTominay almost got a significant touch on a Robertson cross early in the second half as the game began to feel more like a friendly.
Clarke made changes in the 66th minute with Kenny McLean and Dykes on for Billy Gilmour and Adams.
Scotland bossed the final stages and in the 74th minute McTominay’s right-footed shot from the edge of the box beat Mall but rebounded off the post, before Stuart Armstrong, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Christie made cameo appearances.
England are up next up and that is always a massive game for Scotland but the Tartan Army will have one eye on the result in Oslo on the same night to see if their appearance in the Euro finals in Germany are confirmed, although that may just be a matter of time.
Italy win shows 'true face of the France team', says Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot believes Sunday's win over Italy showed "the true face of the France team" as they secured top spot in Nations League Group A2.
The midfielder headed home twice in their 3-1 victory, meeting excellent deliveries from Lucas Digne on both, with his second goal restoring the all-important two-goal cushion that ensured they finished above the Azzurri in the group.
This comes after France had failed to find a way past Israel in a frustrating 0-0 draw last time out.
However, Sunday's victory ensured France will be seeded in the quarter-finals draw as they seem to have put their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, in which they won just twice as they struggled in front of goal, behind them.
Les Bleus also avenged the 3-1 defeat to Italy on home soil in the reverse fixture, something Rabiot said was playing on their minds while they prepared for their trip to San Siro.
"It's been a long time since we've played a match like this, that we haven't fought in this way all together, until the end," he told TF1.
"We also had the objective of winning with a two-goal difference, we did it. But frankly, the mutual aid that there was in this match, the combativeness, the team spirit, it's to be highlighted. Frankly, we enjoyed playing this match.
"It was a different context [Thursday]. Above all, there was a revenge to be taken compared to the previous match against Italy, who had come to win at home. It's a great evening. I hope we will continue to show this face. It's the true face of the France team."
Digne officially got two assists in the victory, but he also played a big role in France's other goal – his free-kick rattled the crossbar before bouncing in off the unfortunate Guglielmo Vicario.
In fact, France scored three goals from set-pieces in a match for the first time since 1991, when they netted three times from dead-ball situations against Albania.
"[The free-kick is] a technical gesture that is worked on in training. The more you do, the more automatic it becomes, and it pays off," Digne said.
"Offensively, it's not bad at all. As a defender, I would have preferred to finish with a clean sheet, but we can't have everything. We finished first, it's great.
"We had a revenge to take from the first leg, we wanted to show a completely different face. And in addition to our slightly worse match against Israel... We really wanted to show that this jersey is close to our hearts. The whole group was present. It was really a complete match."
France's Nations League quarter-finals will be played in March.
Israel 1-0 Belgium: Shua late show proves decisive
Relegated Israel stunned Belgium 1-0 in their final Nations League game as Yarden Shua's late goal earned them their first win in the competition this season.
The Red Devils, who were without a number of key players for the tie in Hungary, were masters of their own downfall as they gifted Israel the winner with four minutes left on the clock.
In a cagey first half, Eli Dasa breached Belgium's backline 24 minutes in and beat Koen Casteels with a crisp low effort, only to be denied by the foot of the far post.
Casteels was alert just before the break, getting down low to push Dor Peretz's low drive away from the bottom corner.
Domenico Tedesco's half-time team talk looked to have buoyed his side as they upped the pressure, with Lois Openda hitting the side netting before Johan Bakayoko forced a fingertip save out of Daniel Peretz just after the hour.
However, in their rush to find a winner, Belgium were caught playing out from the back. Dor Peretz latched onto Matte Smets' loose backpass, and though he was bundled over in the box, Shua coolly picked out the bottom corner.
Israel finish bottom of Group A2 and are automatically relegated to League B, while Belgium sit above them due to a superior goal difference in their head-to-head record –they now have a relegation play-off to overcome.
Data Debrief: Tough times for Tedesco
It has been a Nations League campaign to forget for Belgium, who managed just one win and finished with a whimper as they went winless in their final four matches (D1 L3).
They just edged the shot count in Budapest, having 12 attempts to Israel's 10, but without the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne to call on, they lacked a clinical edge.
While Belgium struggled in attack, their defensive struggles will also be a worry for Tedesco. They failed to win any of the four games in which they fell behind in the group, earning just one point from a losing position.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
