Scotland 2 Cyprus 1
Substitute Oliver Burke was the late hero as Steve Clarke’s Scotland tenure began with a nervy 2-1 win over Cyprus at Hampden Park.
The pressure was already on the home side after losing 3-0 to Kazakhstan in their opening 2020 European Championship qualifier in Astana opener before beating San Marino 2-0 away in the second of their first double-header, which proved insufficient for Alex McLeish to keep his job.
The goalless first-half under the new head coach was not the blood and thunder often required by the Tartan Army who had to exercise patience.
Skipper Andy Robertson, who celebrated Liverpool’s Champions League final win over Tottenham in Madrid last Saturday, thundered in a drive in the 61st minute for his first goal of the season only for defender Ioannis Kousoulous to head level in the 87th minute to stun the Tartan Army.
However, Burke, on for debutant Eamonn Brophy in the 73rd minute, headed a Ryan Fraser cross on to the post and followed up the rebound for his first Scotland goal to claim three valuable points
