Thanks for joining us for live coverage of Scotland's 3-0 European Championship qualifying victory over Cyprus. Goodbye!
In their bid to make it to the tournament in Germany next year, Clarke will be delighted with how his team have started their campaign as they move top of Group A, though Spain are due to take on Norway later on Saturday. Scotland's next game will come against Luis de la Fuente's Spain in another important qualifier on Tuesday at Hampden Park, while Cyprus will look to pick themselves up from this disappointing defeat when they play a friendly away at Armenia the same day.
The referee blows the final whistle, and it is Scotland who run out comfortable 3-0 winners as they get their European Championship qualifying campaign off to a great start. McGinn struck in the 21st minute to set them on their way to victory, though there were some anxious moments as they spurned numerous chances to kill the game off. That changed in the 87th minute though as Dykes nodded Christie's cross down for McTominay to lash into the roof of the net. Having come off the bench in the 67th minute, McTominay then grabbed his second in added time as he coolly finished from Robertson's assist, before Ioannou saw red for a second yellow in the dying seconds to compound Cyprus' misery.
90' + 7' FULL-TIME: SCOTLAND 3-0 CYPRUS
90' + 5' RED CARD!!! It gets worse for Cyprus as Ioannou receives his marching orders in the latter stages for a second yellow card having kicked the ball away in frustration.
A. Robertson
Assist
90' + 3' Robertson showed great composure to lay the ball off to McTominay before the Manchester United man's fine finish.
S. McTominay
Goal
90' + 3' GOAL!!! McTominay makes it 3-0!!! The substitute has his second and Scotland's third as he excellently finishes into the right of the net from Robertson's cool assist. That is the cherry on top of what has been a great performance from the hosts!
90' + 2' Antoniou decides to let fly from range, and it ends up being a poor decision as his awful attempt soars high and wide of Gunn's goal.
90' The fourth official puts up his board and indicates there will be five minutes of additional time at the end of this game.
89' Robertson has the chance to add a third, but he does not get the contact he wants on the ball and his effort ends up blazing over.
L. Dykes
Assist
87' Dykes did very well to cushion a header into the path of McTominay to drill Scotland two goals ahead.
S. McTominay
Goal
87' GOAL!!! McTominay surely makes the points safe!!! Christie hoists a cross into the Cyprus box from the right, and Dykes does superbly to nod the ball down for McTominay, who buries his left-footed shot into the top left corner to make it 2-0 to Scotland!
84' Kakoulis lashes at goal from just outside the box, but Gunn is equal to his dipping effort.
82' Robertson fires a delightful low delivery across the face of goal, but none of his team-mates are there to turn home and Cyprus remain just a goal behind.
N. Patterson
A. Hickey
80' Hickey has been struggling in recent minutes and now limps off for Patterson.
M. Tzionis
G. Kastanos
79' Tzionis comes on for Kastanos.
L. Loizou
A. Gogić
79' Gogic makes way for Loizou.
76' Christie is left fuming after the referee decides not to award a foul following a challenge from Antoniou, before being further enraged when Cyprus wins a soft free-kick moments later.
R. Porteous
Yellow Card
74' Porteous is booked for cynically bringing down Artymatas.
72' Scotland will kick themselves if Cyprus find a way back into this game, having spurned numerous chances to double their lead.
69' How has that not gone in!?!? Dykes brings the ball down in the box and lays it back for Christie, but Spoljaric makes a brilliant block to prevent the midfielder's shot troubling Demetriou.
A. Kakoullis
I. Pittas
68' Kakoulis enters the fray for Pittas.
C. Charalampous
C. Kyriakou
68' Kyriakou is replaced by Charalampous.
R. Christie
R. Jack
67' Christie comes on for Jack in midfield.
S. McTominay
S. Armstrong
67' Armstrong makes way for McTominay.
65' Nearly!!! The ball finds itself to Robertson on the left of the box, and he tries to slide in a low cross for Hickey. He gets it slightly wrong though, and the ball runs across the Cyprus penalty area and out for a goal-kick.
63' Cyprus have played an away qualifying game for a major tournament (World Cup/European Championships) on British soil on nine previous occasions and lost all nine games by an aggregate score of 32-4, losing at least once against each of the four British nations. They look to be on their way to another defeat here.
60' It has been over 30 minutes since Cyprus last attempted a shot in this game. They will have to start creating more if they want to come away with anything from this match.
L. Dykes
C. Adams
58' Adams does indeed limp off as Dykes takes his place up front.
56' Adams is down in pain, and it appears Clarke will be forced into his first change here.
54' Gogic makes a vital tackle to nip the ball away from Adams before the forward could let fly at goal after Cyprus lost possession in a dangerous area.
N. Ioannou
Yellow Card
53' Ioannou is yellow-carded for hauling down Hickey in midfield.
52' Scotland are unbeaten in their last 16 games in all competitions when leading at half-time (won 14, drawn two) since a 2-1 defeat to Israel in October 2018.
50' The hosts win a couple of corners in quick succession, though Ketsbaia's men are able to deal with them with relative ease.
48' Cyprus are yet to have a touch in Scotland's penalty area in this match yet, with their three shots all coming from outside the box from an average distance of 34.9 yards.
46' The visitors get us back underway for the second period.
D. Spoljaric
I. Kousoulos
46' Kousoulos makes way for Spoljaric at the break.
For all of Scotland's control, their lead is still just the one goal and if Cyprus can conjure up more of an attacking threat, they could still fancy their chances of coming away with a result. Clarke will be desperate for what should be a killer second goal, and he will surely be telling his team they need to find one during his half-time team talk.
Clarke's men take a 1-0 lead into the break after a strong first half in which they held 69.3 per cent of the possession and restricted Cyprus to just a single shot on target. McGinn's 16th goal for Scotland under Clarke gave them the lead, firing home from Robertson's deflected cross to put his team ahead and give them real hope of starting their qualifying campaign with a win. It could have been even better for the hosts too, with both Hickey and Adams forcing decent saves from Demetriou.
45' + 3' HALF-TIME: SCOTLAND 1-0 CYPRUS
45' + 2' Adams goes down in the box after a clumsy sliding challenge from Gogic, and the protests of the home crowd for a penalty fall on deaf ears as the referee points for a corner instead, which then comes to nothing.
45' There will be two minutes of additional time at the end of this first half.
43' Good save! McGinn tees up Adams for the Southampton striker to shoot, but Demetriou is equal to the powerful effort and tips it behind for a corner.
41' Scotland have lost their opening European Championship qualifier in their last two campaigns, losing to Germany in 2014 and Kazakhstan in 2019. The last time their first game was on home soil, however, saw them win 6-0 against the Faroe Islands in 2006, and they look on course for another victory here.
39' The visitors are just enjoying a spell of possession at the moment having not had much of the ball so far. Can they trouble Gunn before the interval?
36' Since August 2022, McGinn has scored three goals in five appearances for Scotland, while he has failed to score in any of his 25 games for Villa during this period.
34' There is a bit of a hairy moment for Gunn as he slips when coming out of his goal to collect an overhit throughball, though he is finally able to gather.
G. Kastanos
Yellow Card
32' Kastanos is booked for simulation after diving to try to win a foul against McGregor in midfield.
30' The hosts' left-hand side is causing absolute havoc right now and it feels a matter of time until the likes of Robertson and Tierney create a chance for a second goal.
28' Artymatas tries an acrobatic effort from range, but his dipping attempt goes wide of the right post.
27' Roberge's lofted throughball causes a bit of confusion between Tierney and Gunn and the Arsenal man ends up heading behind for a Cyprus corner, though the flag goes up for offside to spare his blushes.
25' McGinn has now scored 16 goals under Clarke for Scotland – only Denis Law under Ian McColl (21) has scored more goals under a single manager in the nation's history.
23' THE GOAL STANDS!!! The VAR check shows it was very tight, but it rules Robertson to be narrowly onside and Scotland are indeed ahead!
J. McGinn
Goal
21' GOAL!!! Scotland take the lead!!! Robertson is cleverly played in down the left by Armstrong, and he manages to get a deflected cross to reach the back post. McGinn is there waiting to tap home and put the hosts 1-0 up, though there will be a VAR review to check if Robertson was offside in the build-up.
19' Scotland have won all seven of their previous matches against Cyprus, beating them most recently in a European Championships qualifier in November 2019.
17' Gunn makes his first save in a Scotland shirt, getting down comfortably to gather Kastanos' low effort.
16' Kastanos momentarily required some treatment after that challenge from Armstrong, though he is now up and okay to continue.
S. Armstrong
Yellow Card
14' Armstrong receives the first booking of the contest for clipping Kastanos as Cyprus looked to counter.
13' Close! Hickey shows some neat footwork to weave into the box and create the space to shoot, but his powerful effort from a tight angle is pushed past the post by Demetriou.
10' An Armstrong cross from the left picks out McGinn, and the Aston Villa man is able to flick it towards the back post. However, there is no team-mate there to meet it and the ball skims harmlessly away.
9' Scotland have had the majority of the ball so far without being able to fashion a real clear-cut chance as of yet.
7' McGregor becomes the 35th player to reach 50 caps for the Scottish men's national side. At 29y 284d, he is the oldest player to reach this milestone since Steven Naismith, also against Cyprus in November 2019 (33y 63d).
5' Kyriakou lofts a free-kick into the Scotland penalty area, but the referee blows for an infringement and the hosts will have possession back.
3' Robertson wins an early corner as Scotland look to get off to a strong start. He swings the resulting set-piece into the box, but it is too close to Demetriou and the Cyprus goalkeeper punches it away from danger.
1' The hosts kick us off and we are underway!
The two teams make their way onto the pitch ahead of this important fixture.
Visiting boss Temuri Ketsbaia goes with five alterations from the starting XI against Israel, as Roberge and Kousoulos start in defence while Artymatas and Laifis come into the midfield. Antoniou came off the bench to score the winner against Israel and is rewarded with a start here.
Home manager Steve Clarke makes six changes from the 2-1 friendly defeat to Turkey in November, as Gunn makes his debut in goal while Porteous and Hickey replace Jack Hendry and Ryan Fraser. McGregor makes his 50th Scotland appearance in midfield alongside Jack, while Adams comes in for Dykes up top.
CYPRUS (3-5-1-1): Demetris Demetriou; Ioannis Kousoulos, Alexander Gogic, Valentin Roberge; Minas Antoniou, Charalambos Kyriakou, Konstantinos Laifis, Kostakis Artymatas, Nicholas Ioannou; Grigoris Kastanos; Ioannis Pittas.
SUBS: Kenny McLean, Liam Cooper, Liam Kelly, Jacob Brown, Ryan Christie, Zander Clark, Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour, Nathan Patterson, Lyndon Dykes, Scott McTominay, Dominic Hyam.
SCOTLAND (3-5-1-1): Angus Gunn; Ryan Porteous, Grant Hanley, Kieran Tierney; Aaron Hickey, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Jack, Callum McGregor, Andrew Robertson; John McGinn; Che Adams.
The visitors meanwhile have never qualified for a major tournament and finished below Scotland in qualifying for Euro 2020. They did pick up an impressive victory last time out though, winning 3-2 away at Israel, and will be looking to get off to a strong start here.
This will be the hosts’ opening game in Group A as they bid to reach the European Championships for the second consecutive time, having been knocked out at the group stage at the most recent edition. They finished top of their Nations League group last year and will be hoping to carry on that strong form into this qualifying campaign.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the European Championships qualifier between Scotland and Cyprus at Hampden Park.
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