Poland v Scotland LIVE: Nations League result as Andy Robertson dramatically rescues Scots from relegation
Poland 1-2 Scotland: The captain’s last-minute header saved the Scots from automatic relegation, with a play-off to come to stay in League A
Andy Robertson’s last-minute goal saved Scotland from automatic Nations League relegation as the captain’s dramatic header earned Steve Clarke’s side a famous 2-1 win against Poland in Warsaw.
Scotland had to win to avoid finishing bottom of League A1, but turned their run of late misfortunate on its head when Robertson arrived at the back post to thump a powerful header into the net.
Having lost their first three matches of the campaign and drawing 0-0 with Portugal, Scotland ended their winless run with a late win over Croatia on Friday before earning back-to-back wins with victory against Poland.
Scotland made the perfect start when John McGinn converted a chance inside just three minutes but Poland’s Kamil Piątkowski arrowed a stunning strike into the top to equalise on 60 minutes.
At one stage, with Portugal beating Croatia in Zagreb, another goal would have lifted Scotland to second place - enough to progress to the quarter-finals and claim a seeded place in World Cup qualifying.
But it finished as a draw in Zagreb, which means Scotland will play a relegation play-off against one of the runners-up from League B in March in a bid to retain their top-tier status.
Prediction
Scotland were desperately unlucky in the reverse fixture and will be determined to get a result here after positive performances against Croatia and Portugal since September.
Poland 1-1 Scotland.
Predicted line-ups
Poland XI: Bulka; Piatowski, Walukiewicz, Kawior; Kaminski, Urbański, Romanczuk, Zieliński, Zalewski; Bogusz, Piatek.
Scotland XI: Gordon; Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson; Gilmour, McLean; Doak, McTominay, Christie; Conway.
Team news
Scotland have no new injury concerns after their win over Croatia last week, so expect to see a similar line-up to last time out.
Craig Gordon will likely continue in goal with the same back four, while Billy Gilmour and Kenny McLean likely to anchor midfield.
John McGinn may have earned himself a spot in the starting eleven after his winning goal, though it remains to be seen if he will play deeper or in a more advanced role as he has done for his club recently.
Ben Doak – who assisted McGinn – and Scott McTominay will retain their places on the right and centre of the forward line. Upfront, Middlesbrough’s Tommy Conway will hope he did enough to retain his place, though Lyndon Dykes could make a return.
Poland have a number of injuries within their squad, with Robert Lewandowski currently out alongside Jan Bednarek and Bartosz Bereszynski. In addition, Fenerbahce midfielder Sebastian Szymanski was injured in the warm-up before Friday’s match.
Is Poland v Scotland on TV tonight? Kick-off time, team news, channel and how to watch Nations League fixture
When is Poland vs Scotland?
The match takes place on Monday 18 November with kick-off set for 7.45pm GMT at the Kazimierz Górski National Stadium in Warsaw, Poland.
Where can I watch the match?
Viaplay holds the rights to all of Scotland’s competitive home and away matches until 2028. They made a last minute deal with ITV to show the Nations League matches against Poland and Portugal but the last two outings have been aired on YouTube channels run by Viaplay and the Scottish Football Association.
Unless another late deal is done the match will only be available online via YouTube, on the Viaplay International channel.
Poland v Scotland LIVE
Scotland travel to Warsaw to face Poland in the final round of fixtures in Nations League Group A1, with Steve Clarke’s side looking to leapfrog their opponents to avoid relegation.
A John McGinn goal gave the Scots a famous win against Croatia last week at Hampden Park, and though they still sit bottom of their group, a win over Poland would mean they avoid relegation at their expense.
Scotland know nothing other than a win will do tonight, with Poland – who lost 5-1 to Portugal last time out – needing just a point to stay above Steve Clarke’s men.
And despite that bruising defeat in Porto, Poland know they have enough to beat the Scots, having won 3-2 with a last-minute at Hampden in September.
Poland v Scotland LIVE
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s match between Scotland and Poland.
It’s straight-out battle to stay in the Nations League’s ‘A’ league, with Scotland needing a win to leapfrog their opponents in the group.
And we’ll have all the latest build-up, team news and updates here.
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