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They did it the hard way, but Scotland held firm on a penalty shoot-out to reach their first major men’s finals since the 1998 World Cup in France.
Derby keeper David Marshall proved himself the hero, saving Alexsandar Mitrovic’s penalty to send Steve Clarke’s team to the belated final of Euro 2020 next summer.
Scotland had dominated regulation time, leading on Ryan Christie’s brilliant goal before conceding the equalizer in the 90th minute when Real Madrid’s 50 million pound Serbian striker Luka Jovic headed in a draw his team barely deserved.
As torrential rain cascaded down over Belgrade, Scotland instantly seemed at home, initially dominating possession to such an extent that Serbia had reason to be relieved that its 50,000-capacity stadium was virtually empty.
More remotely reactive than proactive, the hosts seemed slow and strangely off-beat. However, although his cause was not helped by the missing arm in John McGinn’s face, which earned Nikola Milenkovic a warning and ensured that the left component of the Serbian three needed to watch his step, Aleksandar Mitrovic seemed capable of disrupt visitor security.
The aerial prowess of the Fulham center forward was already causing problems as Mitrovic held the ball excellently before signaling Sasa Lukic for a low shot that flew a little further from David Marshall’s left post.
It quickly became apparent that Motherwell’s Declan Gallagher, deployed in the heart of Clarke’s own three, was destined to become a key figure in one of the night’s major subplots, namely his duel with Mitrovic. Clarke couldn’t have been too delighted when, with halftime waving and Gallagher remaining impressively firm, the defender got the softest of reserves.
Another sphere that could define the match was the left side of the Serbian defense, where Filip Kostic seemed so dedicated to prowling forward on the counterattack that Lyndon Dykes and Christie were offered plenty of attractive space to explore.
Clarke’s only disappointment was that as much as they and McGinn managed to confuse their markers, they had limited success in properly exploiting the resulting defensive gaps. Indeed, Predrag Rajkovic rarely tried too hard, the home keeper saved comfortably when Christie directed a potentially dangerous free kick very close to him and, again, when McGinn took a shot straight to the throat. How could Scotland have done it with injured Newcastle United winger Ryan Fraser on that front of three.
More positively, they were at least keeping Serbia’s usual dangerous man Sergej Milinkovic-Savic extraordinarily quiet. The Lazio creator struggled to spread his customary stardust into proceedings as he moved, often aimlessly, between the lines.
Group A Turkey, Italy, Welsh, Switzerland
B Group Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Russia
Group C Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria, North Macedonia
Group D England, Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic
Group E Spain, Sweden, Poland, Slovakia
Group F Hungary, Portugal, France, Germany
Provisional fixtures and locations can be viewed here.
Clarke must have been reassured that flanking Gallagher, Manchester United’s Scott McTominay and Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney, he provided his team with considerable defensive stability, as the stuttering in Serbia’s creative step perhaps explains why they had won alone. one of his last six home games.
This impression was reinforced early in the second half when Dykes, delighting in intimidating his would-be keepers, deftly held the ball as Liverpool’s Andy Robertson advanced from the left side and missed the best chance of the night. Robertson looked ready to score but somehow screwed up horribly, sending the ball over the bar.
Does not matter; Christie quickly sorted things out for Clarke thanks to a wonderful finish. His goal began with Callum McGregor seizing a Serbian possession grant and feeding Christie.
All that was left was for the Celtic forward to spin superbly and feint to complete a one-two, but instead shot through a heavily congested penalty area. With teammates disinterestedly distracting the defenders, the ball flew into the goal, skimming the inside of a post on its journey across the line.
Now Serbia needed to raise the tone at home, not to mention their strangely weak pace.
However hard they tried, the Clarke players kept throwing obstacles in their way. Of course, Milinkovic-Savic unleashed a header that flew too close to the goal for comfort, but Gallagher contributed a major block, possibly avoiding the goal, on Mitrovic as the striker prepared to shoot.
Between those scares, and Serbia began to win a few corners, a grueling Scotland even threatened to extend their lead. McTominay headed inches wide after a corner, McGregor approached from 25 yards and the hardworking and influential McGinn created a decent opening that Christie couldn’t make the most of. When Jovic proved equally incapable of polishing Mladenovic’s clever cross at home, it felt like Scotland were ready to end 23 years of pain.
But Jovic didn’t quite finish and in the 90th minute the substitute connected with another good delivery from the same creator and, this time, he dodged McTominay before dispatching a classic head butt down that eluded Marshall’s grip and condemned the Scottish fans to the agony of the extension.
Suddenly, the Clarke players were alarmingly long-legged and seriously faced with it. Mitrovic saw a wide deflected shot and only a sublime save by Marshall prevented Nemanja Gudelj from shooting Serbia ahead. The Derby goalkeeper performed acrobatic wonders to dump that high-speed effort around a post, but it turned out he was simply warming up for the main event, saving Mitrovic’s penalty.
