Scotland’s run of 10 undefeated matches has come to an end tonight after a 3-1 defeat to England at Hampden Park.
Two quickfire first-half goals from Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham gave the Auld Enemy a comfortable lead going into the break before Harry Maguire’s own goal gave Steve Clarke’s side a lifeline. However, Harry Kane then reinstated England’s 2-goal lead with nine minutes to play by finishing off a brilliant move led by Jude Bellingham.
Elsewhere, Norway’s 2-1 win over Georgia means that Scotland will have to wait to have their UEFA Euro 2024 qualification confirmed.
Despite the defeat, Scotland boss Steve Clarke insisted that his side’s September camp was a success. He said:
“The most important thing in this camp was to get 3 points in Cyprus. We achieved that.
“We knew playing against England was going to be difficult, playing against Spain away is going to be difficult, playing against France is going to be difficult.
“But if you want to learn as a team you have to play against good opposition so we have to go away and learn lessons from tonight and try to be better in the future.”
England defender Harry Maguire was mocked by the home fans before and after his own goal tonight but manager Gareth Southgate blamed the crowd’s harsh treatment of his player on the English media. He added:
“From a Scotland fan’s point of view, I get it. I have absolutely no complaints with what they did. It’s a consequence of ridiculous treatment of him for a long period of time.
“I think our fans recognised, okay, there might be a bit of heat from our supporters but we’re not going to have it from others.
“It’s a joke. I’ve never known a player treated the way he is, not by the Scottish fans, but by our own commentators, pundits, whatever it is. They’ve created something that’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen.
