S Poddar
Zagreb, Croatia-Steve Clarke’s Scotland side endured another agonising defeat at the hands of Croatia, this time on the Stadion Maksimir. The match was a roller coaster ride of emotions as a last-gasp VAR decision denied Scotland a well-deserved draw and meant that Antony Milicic’s team wined 2-1.
In hope of their first success in five matches, desperate Scots were convinced that they had snatched the 95th-minute equalizer when Kristijan Jakic deflected Ché Adams’ shot into the net. Clarke, never known to show much excitement, was seen celebrating this goal, but VAR intervened, ruling that Adams was offside before the shot, thus crushing Scotland’s hopes and extending their winless streak to nine competitive matches.
Clarke was visibly dejected speaking immediately after the match, admitting that taking the late VAR call on him had been a bitter pill to swallow. “You get a high when you think you have a deserved draw and then it’s taken away from you,” he said. “The performance was really good. We have to believe we’re on the right path. At some stage, we’ll get the rub of the green, we’ll get a break, and things will change.”
Illness in the Scotland camp added another layer to the match, as Clarke was forced to start with a weakened team. But amidst all of these challenges, a young loanee at Liverpool – Ben Doak made his Scotland debut and showed readiness with pace and skill; Clarke: “I love him.”
This two halves, pretty much balanced where the scores was rightly level because both teams were creating chances which they have failed to convert and this was their weakness up to this moment. The Croatians dominated the possession and made many attempts at breaking the Scot’s defense but it just could not come through.
Their best chances were coming from counterattacks.
It all came down in the 32nd minute when a defensive error from Croatia gave Ryan Christie space to score from a tight angle, but Croatia was quickly back in this match again when Igor Matanovic equalised for his side before half-time.
The second half was a tight affair with both sides taking turns forcing the winner. Croatia was more forceful as far as chances are concerned, and it could have been worse for them had Luka Modric and Andrej Kramaric converted some of their numerous attempts at goal. The Scots’ only real chance came when Che Adams was denied a certain goal by an excellent save from the Croatian goalkeeper.
Then came the moment of truth in the 70th minute when Kramaric headed home from close range to give Croatia the lead, although Scotland gave it their best shot by pushing hard for an equalizer in the final minutes, managing to find no way through the Croatian defense.
The defeat places Scotland at the bottom of Group A1 in the Nations League and makes it tough for them to qualify for the European Championships. Clarke will look forward to how his team can improve and become consistent.
Conclusion: Scotland falls to more defeats as they get hammered by Croatia in the second leg that has come to mark Scotland’s further failures in the international arena. The match improved from where the team had left in the first leg but the fate was sealed by a combination of poor luck and their inept finishing skills. Clarke will surely look for the reason behind this failure and hope that his boys will bounce back quickly.
