Report as Scotland lost 3-2 to Poland in their Nations League opener; a Sebastian Szymanski strike opened the scoring, with Robert Lewandowski penalty's doubling their lead; Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay scored in the second half; Nicola Zalewski scored from the spot to snatch the win
Friday 6 September 2024 09:19, UK
A stoppage-time penalty saw Scotland suffer an agonising late defeat to Poland after a spirited display in their Nations League opener.
Steve Clarke's side were determined to make up for a disappointing Euro 2024 as they returned to action for the first time.
But it was Poland who took an early lead through Sebastian Szymanski early on, with Robert Lewandowski doubling their lead after Scott McTominay had his equalised disallowed for handball.
The hosts rallied after the break and Billy Gilmour smashed the ball home, before McTominay levelled the match minutes after Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld came on for their international debuts.
But Grant Hanley's late challenge saw Nicola Zalewski fire home Poland's second penalty in the 97th minute to leave Clarke's side without a win in five games.
Scotland now travel to Lisbon to face Portugal on Sunday, while Poland are away to Croatia.
It was a bright start for the hosts and McTominay sent a hopeful ball into the box for Dykes just two minutes in, but there was too much on it for the Birmingham striker.
Poland though were then ahead six minutes later when Kenny McLean gave the ball away, allowing Szymanski to burst forward, with his low drive from 25 yards going in off the inside of the post.
Scotland looked to produce an immediate response, but Robertson wasted a free-kick before McTominay sent Ryan Christie's ball well over the bar.
McTominay then thought he had equalised as he bundled the ball in after Marcin Bulka had saved his header, only for VAR to rule it out for a handball.
The hosts continued to dominate. Christie sent a shot inches wide and McTominay's low cross was cleared before any onrushing attacker could tap in it.
Dykes then met Christie's cross at the backvpost but could only send it into the side netting.
A clumsy challenge by Ralston saw Poland double their lead from the penalty spot before the break.
The Celtic defender brought down Nicola Zalewski in the box and Lewandowski made no mistake, sending Angus Gunn the wrong way to make it 84 international goals.
Scotland responded and Gilmour pulled a goal back just after the restart, smashing a low shot through a sea of bodies after Dykes' effort was cleared.
The Tartan Army found their voice and there was relief when Szymanski's curling effort went past the post before Scotland threatened again as Bulka denied McTominay.
Dykes had another chance cleared before he went off as Steve Clarke rang the changes. Doak and Gauld made their debuts, with Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland also making an appearance.
And Doak made an instant impact to pull Scotland level, driving into the box to find Ralston, who pulled the ball back to McTominay to side-foot into the net.
But the Tartan Army's cheers turned to tears deep into stoppage time when Hanley brought down Zalewski in the box.
The Roma player made no mistake as he fired Poland to victory, leaving the Scots with just one win in 13.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke:
"If you make errors at this level you get punished and we got punished severely for errors in the game.
"I think if I analyse the performance I have to be happy, so that's a small crumb of comfort for a head coach.
"We knew the system that Poland would play would cause us one or two issues that we wouldn't normally face, but I thought we dealt with that well. The team shape was good, the attitude and energy of the players was excellent but if you make small mistakes at this level you get punished.
"I think they [Ryan Gauld and Ben Doak] brought energy to the game at a time when the game had opened up. I thought all the substitutions made a good impact.
"We've got to keep working hard, it's the only thing you can do and ask a little bit more out the players to not make those errors. Hopefully as we move forward that will be the case.
"If you want to just report on the scoreline it's negative, it's disappointing for everybody. If you want to look objectively at the performance there are a lot of good things that we can take forward.
"Obviously there are some things we have to eradicate from our performance and that's what we have to look to do.
"I just feel disappointed for the players because I felt their efforts deserved at least a point out the game."
