Scotland overpower Albania in Nations League opener
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ByEurosport
Updated 10/09/2018 at 21:33 GMT
Steven Naismith scored one, made another and missed an open goal as Scotland completed an impressive 2-0 win over Albania at Hampden Park.
Steven Naismith of Scotland (9) celebrates with team mates as Berat Gjimshiti of Albania scores an own goal fortheir first goal during the UEFA Nations League C Group One match between Scotland and Albania.
Image credit: Eurosport
Norwich's on-loan Hearts striker enjoyed an eventful evening as Alex McLeish watched his side recover from Friday's 4-0 friendly drubbing by Belgium in Glasgow to overpower the visitors in their Nations League Group C1 opener.
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Alex McLeish at Hampden Park.
Image credit: Eurosport
Naismith headed against a post from two yards out midway through the first half, but quickly made amends as his header came off Berat Djimsiti for the opening goal on 47 minutes at a rain-soaked national stadium.
He benefited from some poor defending by the visitors to head home a second goal on 68 minutes as Scotland extended their unbeaten run in competitive matches to seven. It was Scotland's first competitive match in almost a year.
"It was a very good performance," said McLeish. "A great tempo and we had good defensive discipline.
"We hit them with a whirwind but didn't get that early goal.
"We were very positive. We have had some recent fixtures against world-class teams and we learned a lot from that.
There is great stamina in the team, they are all ripped and they showed their fighting spirit in abundance tonight. People were talking about my win ratio. I was not bothered about that. Let's remember who the opposition were.
"I know there was a bit of apathy among the fans, but we are the only ones who can change that."
Scotland visit Haifa to face Israel in their next Nations League match on October 11 before hosting Portugal in a friendly on October 14.
MATCH STATS
- Scotland attempted 25 shots versus Albania; as many as they mustered in their previous four games combined (25 shots).
- Scotland are unbeaten in their last seven competitive fixtures (W5 D2), their longest run without a competitive defeat since September 2001 (7 games).
- Two of Scotland’s last three goals in home matches have been own goals, with those netted by Berat Djimsiti (Albania) and Martin Skrtel (Slovakia).
- Scotland’s Andrew Robertson created more goalscoring chances than any other player on the pitch (4).
- Six of Steven Naismith’s eight goals for Scotland have come in home matches.
- Albania have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine matches in all competitions, a 1-0 win vs Israel.
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