Ronaldo preys on Scotland as stonewall Steve sees stubborn resistance cruelly crumble – Keith Jackson in Lisbon

In the end it was all about one man. Which is precisely how Cristiano Ronaldo likes it.

With a shake of his right boot Portugal’s poster boy notched goal No.901 in the dying moments then set off on the kind of victory lap which has become a trademark over all these years. Not for a single, fleeting moment will it have occurred to him that a travesty had just been committed.

Or that he had just twisted the knife into the back of a Scotland side which itself deserved to share some of the adulation for a performance which was close to heroic in Lisbon last night. Predators don’t do pity or remorse. But Scotland do make a habit of hard luck stories and, ultimately, this was another one for Steve Clarke and his players. In fact, it was savagely unfair. Clarke – perhaps predictably – made not a single change to the team he sent out to face Poland.

Once again, he stonewalled the clamour for change and new faces and turned instead to the old reliables. The performance they provided him with at Hampden on Thursday justified his decision, even if Scotland were once again on the wrong side of the eventual scoreline.

Clarke clearly believes this is no time to start reinventing the wheel. Not when they’ve been thrown into the fast lane – and in the knowledge the slightest mistake could have catastrophic consequences.

In fact, the big surprise was sitting, pouting on Portugal’s bench in the rippling shape of Ronaldo – the veteran making way for Diogo Jota. As mad as it might seem, Clarke may have been even more unhappy than Ronaldo about that one, given the old timer’s personal sideshow and self indulgent preening has caused Portugal such a distraction over the last while.

This would be a very different test for Clarke and his players