Scotland remember how to win as electric Doak and McGinn tee up Nations League great escape – 5 talking points

Gutsy Scotland stayed strong to sink 10-man Croatia 1-0 as John McGinn's late winner breathed new life into our Nations League campaign.

McGinn was a surprise substitute but the Aston Villa skipper, with the help of the electric Ben Doak, climbed off the bench to fire past Dominik Kotarski in the 86th minute and set Hampden tonto. The visitors had a perceived sense of injustice over Petar Sucic's red card, however, there was no argument to be had over the two yellow cards which earned him an early bath before the half time whistle.

Steve Clarke was keenly aware of our recent uptick in form counts for little if results didn't follow and he banished a barren run of 14 months without a competitive victory – that's enough of the negatives for a country who appear to have recovered from a nightmare Euro 2024 campaign. The boss has beamed over improved performances against the top tier in Europe and now we stand 90 minutes from pulling off the great escape against Poland. A win is needed but it appears on after his rivals were pasted by Portugal.

Craig Gordon was so busy in the first half he turned into a volleyball player, such was the frequency he was punching the ball away from danger. Scotland were emboldened after the break and were battering at the door before McGinn removed it from its hinges. Here's 5 talking points from Hampden.

Clarke is often clamped for a perceived lack of emotion, however, his angst over our early struggles turned the usually stoic national team boss into a silent movie star – it appeared he was directly communicating to the 50,000 punters through dramatic body language. The game changed on that red card, however, there was something eating at Clarke over his shape which forced his exposed