Tactics didn’t give Scotland a chance
The first-half performance at Hampden made for pretty dismal viewing for the Tartan Army, although the team did improve as the game wore on and Ukraine sat off. The two strikers, Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams, were isolated by the chasm between the midfield in attack and Ukraine’s three-man midfield – with one man sitting deep – meant that progressing the ball through the middle simply wasn’t an option.
That left the two wing-backs, Andrew Robertson and debutant Aaron Hickey, as Scotland’s only real attacking outlets and both struggled with the additional responsibility. The former did well to beat his man on occasion but never produced a final ball that could lead to an opportunity; the latter, meanwhile, looked daunted by the occasion.
The result was that, more often that not, the ball was simply lumped forward where the Ukrainian defence were waiting to greedily hoover it up.
Defence have an off-night
Scotland were missing their best defender and most important player against Ukraine and Kieran Tierney’s loss was keenly felt. The Arsenal man’s driving runs in possession are a useful weapon for Steve Clarke to call upon but it was his defensive nous that was conspicuously absent at the national stadium.
Liam Cooper was asked to fill in in Tierney’s stead and his positioning was suspect on occasion – none more so than when Andriy Yarmolenko peeled away from the Leeds captain for the opening goal. He never looked comfortable when being run at and was regularly beaten too easily.
Scott McTominay, meanwhile, didn’t exactly cover himself in glory for Ukraine’s second as Roman Yaremchuk was essentially afforded a free header eight yards from goal. His passing was slack but as the game wore on and he started committing forward in attack, he contributed far more effectively to the team.
Ryan Christie stakes his claim
The Bournemouth forward has found himself in and out of the starting XI under Clarke but he had to settle for a place on the bench as the Scotland boss elected to go with two target men up top. After coming on to replace Dykes at the break, he demonstrated his worth to the national team with an excellent performance.
It is no coincidence that almost all of Scotland’s goalscoring opportunities in the second half involved Christie one way or the other and the former Celtic man was the brightest spark in a dour evening in Mount Florida. When Clarke selects his team for Wednesday's Nations League opener against Armenia, few are more deserving of a starting spot.
