Kazakhstan 3 Scotland 0: McLeish´s men torn asunder in Astana

Scotland’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign got off to a dismal start as Kazakhstan romped to a 3-0 victory in Astana on Thursday.

Alex McLeish’s side won their Nations League group in November, sealing a qualification play-off place for next year’s finals in the process, and they may well need that fallback option on this evidence.

Kazakhstan, 77 places below their opponents in the FIFA rankings, roared out of the blocks and were two up inside 10 minutes at Astana Arena through Yuriy Pertsukh and Yan Vorogovskiy’s first international goals.

And those lessons were not heeded as Baktiyor Zainutdinov’s headed third effectively put the contest to bed shortly after half-time.

1975 – Today against Kazakhstan is the first time Scotland have conceded twice in the opening 10 minutes of a match since May 1975, when Gerry Francis and Kevin Beattie put England 2-0 ahead en route to a 5-1 victory. Nice. #KAZSCO

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 21, 2019

Scotland came into this meeting having lost only one of their previous 10 competitive games but any positivity was swiftly punctured by Pertsukh.

Alexander Merkel clipped a ball over the top for the Astana midfielder, who controlled deftly before rifling a left-foot volley in off the crossbar, and things quickly got worse for the visitors.

Kazakhstan’s second owed much to a fine assist from Islambek Kuat, who slipped a sublime pass inside left-back Graeme Shinnie for Vorogovskiy to slide home at the back post.

Kuat went close himself, a dipping effort from distance forcing Scott Bain to tip over, but the hosts did add a third six minutes into the second period as Zainutdinov rose superbly to guide Gafurzhan Suyumbayev’s left-wing delivery back across goal and in.

Kazakhstan goalkeeper Dmytro Nepogodov made a smart stop to deny Stuart Armstrong as Scotland belatedly threatened, but that opening was the best McLeish’s side could muster, leaving last year’s Nations League promotion feeling like a distant memory.

What does it mean? Torrid start for the Tartan Army

Only the top two from Group I will advance to Euro 2020 and, with Belgium almost certain to claim one of those places, Scotland have their work cut out.

Home comforts for Pertsukh

Operating inside a stadium he knows well, Pertsukh’s opener was a moment of pure class, killing the ball with his right before having the confidence to fire an early finish beyond Bain from just inside the area.

Shinnie suffers as makeshift left-back

With Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney unavailable, Shinnie was deployed as an emergency full-back. He has played there previously, but the Aberdeen man was caught out of position for the second and third goals.

Key Opta Facts

– This was Scotland’s heaviest defeat in a competitive match since November 2016, when they lost 3-0 against England in a World Cup qualifier.
– Kazakhstan have won consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time since March 2016.
– Scotland’s first shot on target came in the 55th minute, by which point they were already 3-0 behind.
– This was McLeish’s biggest defeat in a competitive match as Scotland manager.

What’s next?

Kazakhstan are at home again on Sunday, against Russia, while Scotland will be confident of bouncing back at minnows San Marino.