Roundup of today’s action as Scotland returned to major tournament action for the first time in 23 years, whilst Group E got underway.
Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army were making their first appearance in a major competition since participating in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as they welcomed Czech Republic to Hampden Park where the visitors had a three match hoodoo hanging over them.
Group E meanwhile began with a competitive encounter between Poland and Slovakia in Russia, whilst group favourites, Spain and Sweden collided in Seville, Spain.
Now here is a full roundup of the day’s action starting in Glasgow.
Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic
Scotland made a bright start on their return to international tournaments since 1998 as John McGinn saw his sixth minute shot blocked twice with the resulting corner coming to nothing.
Vladimir Darida created Czech Republic’s first chance six minutes later after drawing a foul from Stuart Armstrong, with the free-kick evading Tomas Kalas’ reach and behind for a goal kick.
Lyndon Dykes saw two shots denied whilst Andrew Robertson’s cross was deflected as Scotland asserted control until four minutes from half-time, as Vladimir Coufal collected a corner clearance and whipped in for Patrik Schick to head into the bottom left corner to put the visitors ahead.
Scotland quickly set about trying to force an equaliser with their best chance coming in the first minute of injury time, as Ryan Christie’s cross was cleared to Scott McTominay who ran into the box but was fouled with the ball falling for Armstrong but the Southampton midfielder’s cross was cleared by Tomas Soucek.
Upon the restart after the break, Czech Republic made the brightest start as Darida saw a 47th minute curled low shot saved by David Marshall, just two minutes before Tomas Vaclik cleared Robertson’s cross to Dykes after Jack Hendry’s shot fired over the bar.
Schick broke forward in the 52nd minute from a Scotland attack and caught Marshall off position as he unleashed a powerful shot from just inside Scotland’s half, with the ball flying in beyond the Scotland goalkeeper as Schick claimed his second goal of the match.
Darida missed a chance to add a third for the visitors three minutes later as he rifled over the bar with Armstrong, Dykes and James Forrest all wasting shots for the Tartan Army.
Schick then wasted a 81st minute chance to grab his hat-trick as he fired upon goal from a pass but Marshall was alert to dive to his right to save the shot, as Czech Republic ultimately clung on for their first-ever win at Hampden Park after failing to win in three previous visits in all competitions.
Their two goal win also saw Czech Republic go top of Group D ahead of England and Croatia as Scotland sit rock-bottom.
Poland 1-2 Slovakia
Slovakia’s Jakub Hromada forced the first chance of the match after finding himself fouled by Kamil Jowiak, only for the resulting free-kick to be cleared by Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski shortly afterwards saw two chances go begging whilst Ondrej Duda wasted a 14th minute strike for Slovakia, firing wide of the near bottom left corner after cutting in from the left flank.
Four minutes later, Robert Mak raced up the left apace and evaded two defenders to fire in via deflection from Wojciech Szczesny to gift Slovakia a shock lead.
Juraj Kucka thereafter saw two first half chances to extend Slovakia’s lead go begging as the Falcons held their lead until half-time.
Just 29 seconds into the second half, Karol Linetty fired in an equaliser for Poland from Maciej Rybus’ pullback pass following a fast restart by the Polish team.
Linetty and Piotr Zielinski soon afterwards saw chances go begging as Grzegorz Krychowiak was red carded for a late foul on Hromada in the 62nd minute.
Milan Skriniar seven minutes later fired in on the turn from a corner after Lukas Haraslin saw a shot deflected into the side-netting.
Poland proceeded to hunt down a second equaliser but Zielinski, Tymoteusz Puchacz and Jan Bednarek all saw chances denied as Slovakia clung on for victory.
Spain 0-0 Sweden
Kick-off was delayed briefly to allow for repairs to the netting in Sweden’s goal but once the action commenced, Spain got on the front foot early as Ferran Torres unleashed a cross from the right just two minutes in but Mikael Lustig was alert to put the ball behind, with the resulting corner cleared.
Spain went on to dominate the first half with no reward as Dani Olmo wasted five chances whilst Alvaro Morata and Torres both saw shots denied, with Alexander Isak producing Sweden’s best chance in the 41st minute when his shot hit Marcos Llorente then the right post with Unai Simon saving the rebounding ball.
Sweden went on to make a better start to the second half as Isak forced a foul from Jordi Alba just three minutes in, only for Lustig to fumble his collection of a free-kick as he knocked the ball via his left foot onto his right heel and couldn’t recover control to create a shot.
Spain meanwhile struggled to create any clear opportunities and were almost punished in the 61st minute as Isak broke forward and managed to calmly feed a low cross to Marcus Berg, who incorrectly opted for a chip shot that went wide of the bottom corner.
Olmo eventually produced a clear-cut second half chance for Spain 12 minutes later as he met Llorente’s pullback, only for his shot to find a blockage in the form of Marcus Danielson who cleared the ball away.
Gerard Moreno came on for Olmo just one minute later and blew two huge chances in the closing minutes, with his best chance seeing him head Pablo Sarabia’s cross onto goal but Robin Olsen kicked the header clear away from goal.
Sarabia then missed a huge chance himself in the third minute of injury time as he knocked Alba’s cross towards goal with his knee but Olsen made a vital save as the game finished goalless.
Spain and Sweden consequently sit second and third respectively after the opening round of Group E action, as Slovakia sit top and Poland occupy the elimination position at bottom of the group.
Leave a Reply