UEFA Nations League: John McGinn helps Scotland seal Croatia win to stay alive, Kosovo players walk off pitch in Romania – Eurosport

Scotland picked up the first win of their UEFA Nations League campaign after a late John McGinn goal saw them beat Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, sealing an impressive win for Steve Clarke’s side.

The midfielder pounced on a parry from Dominik Kotarski after Ben Doak fired a shot at the Croatian goalkeeper, and McGinn powered home, taking a small deflection off Duje Caleta-Car as it went in.

Clarke had substituted McGinn onto the pitch shortly before the 70th minute as part of a triple change, and saw his decision pay dividends.

The win sees them move to four points in Group A1 and keeps Scotland alive in the competition, at least until they face Poland on Monday, while Portugal face Croatia.

Croatia’s Petar Sucic was the recipient of a red card as he picked up two yellows, with the latter being handed out after a 50-50 challenge on Scottish defender John Souttar on the stroke of half-time.

Scotland attempted to take advantage of the space left by Sucic, with Doak and Billy Gilmour as two of their main attacking conduits, but the Scots were unable to make their opportunities pay.

Scotland have had several good performances in their Nations League group but have struggled to turn them into points, but as they seemingly approached another draw, Doak darted past Josko Gvardiol and constructed McGinn’s late winner for a statement win.

Northern Ireland took a big stride towards promotion to League B of the Nations League with a comfortable 2-0 win over Belarus at Windsor Park.

A draw against Luxembourg on Monday will be enough for Michael O’Neill’s side to secure promotion.

Goals from Daniel Ballard and Dion Charles ensured the hosts went top of Group C3 with 10 points, two points clear of Bulgaria, who they beat 5-0 last month.

Coming into the tie on the back of that huge win, O’Neill’s side endured a frustrating first half.

Charles saw a promising effort tipped over the crossbar by Fedor Lapoukhov, but following that they failed to take advantage of their chances and gave Belarus a comfortable end to the half.

Straight from the kick-off in the second half, Northern Ireland displayed a renewed vigour and were instantly on top.

It took five minutes for them to break the deadlock as Ballard, who has endured a frustrating season with injury, met Shea Charles’ corner at the back post and headed past Lapoukhov.

The hosts doubled their lead in the 63rd minute as Kiryl Pyachenin’s handball gave away a penalty, with Charles confidently tucking it away for the decisive goal.

Northern Ireland have conceded just a single goal in their group so far while scoring nine goals, and need just a draw in their final game against Luxembourg on Monday.

Switzerland’s 1-1 draw with Serbia confirmed their relegation to League B for the first time as the result ensured they will finish bottom of Group A4.

They were held to a draw in Zurich when they needed a 2-0 win to have a chance of survival.

A late goal from Aleksa Terzic broke Swiss hearts after the hosts led 1-0 until the 88th minute, with a goal from Zeka Amdouni having given them the lead just 10 minutes prior.

The Swiss now have to face Spain in their final group game away from home on Monday, which will be insignificant for both sides as Spain have already clinched the group’s top spot.

Elsewhere, Northern Ireland beat Belarus 2-0 thanks to goals from Daniel Ballard and Dion Charles.

The League C victory in Belfast sees them take a huge step towards earning promotion back to the second tier of the Nations League as they sit top of Group C3 with 10 points.

The Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was abandoned in injury time after fans at the National Arena in Bucharest reportedly taunted Kosovo players with Serbian chants.

Kosovo’s players left the pitch following the chants, leading to the game being suspended at 0-0.

Tensions and disputes between Kosovo and Serbia have long existed, with animosity persisting since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanians in the late 1990s.

Kosovo, a former Yugoslav province, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia still refuses to recognise. Romania refused to recognise their independence in 2008 and has been one of the countries halting its path to EU membership.

A disappointing start for the hosts made way for a second half filled with goals, via Rafael Leao, Bruno Fernandes and Pedro Neto, and a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Leao opened the scoring as he met Nuno Mendes’ cross after starting the move with a superb run, and Ronaldo doubled the lead with a penalty, before Fernandes made it three with a superb strike from the edge of the area that crashed off the underside of the crossbar.

Neto put the result beyond doubt when he made it four with a clean finish inside the Polish area, and Ronaldo added the finishing touches with a bicycle kick from close range.

Dominik Marczuk scored a consolation goal for the visitors but with two minutes left, it was too little, too late.

Portugal face second-placed Croatia next, while Poland have a tussle with Scotland as both sides sit on four points each.

Goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez in the first and second half, respectively, were enough for Luis de la Fuente’s side, despite a late goal from Gustav Isaksen.

It took just 15 minutes for the European champions to settle in after Denmark controlled the opening exchanges, with Oyarzabal punishing some poor defending with a neat finish to open the scoring.

The second goal saw Perez combine with Dani Olmo, has they had done numerous times throughout the evening, to put the Spaniards ahead by two.

Isaksen took advantage of a poor back pass to pull one back for the Danes and give them some hope, only for Spain to see out the win and head into their final fixture at home with the hard work done.

They sit top of the group by six points, with Denmark in second, and have afforded the luxury of being able to rest key players against Switzerland if they choose to.

Denmark need at least a draw against Serbia to secure second place in the group.