On a night in which both Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho made their first starts for their country, another of Manchester United’s most in-form players had an evening to forget.
If there were any concerns about whether the step up to the international stage would be a bridge too far for Kobbie Mainoo, those doubts were dispelled emphatically as the teen sensation wriggled through a pair of Belgian midfielders before prodding a pass into Jude Bellingham, paving the way for a penalty Ivan Toney won and then converted at Wembley.
Alejandro Garnacho, meanwhile, did his hopes of a place in Argentina’s Copa America squad no harm at all. Handed a first start for the World Cup winners after a fine second-half display a few days earlier, the Manchester United whizzkid more than played his part in a 3-1 triumph over Costa Rica.
Mixed night for Manchester United stars
Scott McTominay wrote his name onto the Scotland team sheet with indelible ink a long time ago. An almost undisputed starter these days for club and country, McTominay is a if not the major reason why Scotland have another European Championships to look forward to. His tally of seven in Euro qualifying was bettered by only four players, and what players they are.
Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe.
In total, McTominay has 15 goals for Man United and Scotland since that iconic brace against Spain 12 months ago. The closest he came to number 16 in midweek, however, was a rather hopeful fizzing strike from long distance, whistling past the post.
That was typical of a Scotland performance lacking in creativity and imagination, Steve Clarke’s side in danger of going into a tournament very undercooked as their winless run was extended to seven during Tuesday’s shock 1-0 home defeat to Northern Ireland at Hampden Park.
McTominay is so often the man Scotland turn to on occasions like this. But even the nation’s 2023 Player of the Year could not rise to the rescue this time. His influence on proceedings, to quote Edinburgh News, ‘faded’ after his hopeful long-range drive just before the break.
The Scottish Sun, handing McTominay a match rating of just 5/10, write that the Carrington graduate ‘had one of his least effective appearances for Scotland in a while’.
Scotland suffer shock Northern Ireland defeat
“The concern is that we didn’t look like we were going to break Northern Ireland down,” sighs Michael Stewart, the one-time Man United and Scotland man speaking to ViaPlay.
“The general performance level wasn’t what we have seen. Of course you have got to get back to not conceding goals generally but of late it hasn’t been good enough. We have to be more structured and solid defensively.”
“The bigger concern for me was you didn’t see McTominay and (Aston Villa’s John) McGinn getting on the ball enough. We didn’t see much penetration in the wide areas and we didn’t look like we were going to create much opportunities.”
Stewart feels that Scotland’s recent troubles can be traced back to the goal McTominay saw very harshly ruled out when the scores were level during October’s 2-0 defeat by Spain. Clarke’s side, he fears, have never quite recovered.
“It just feels like ever since the McTominay free-kick against Spain when all the little things were going our way, after that decision – which for me was the wrong one – all those things have started to pile up against us,” Stewart adds.
“The confidence has started to drift from the team.”