Scotland v Belarus: Che Adams and Scott McTominay score in World Cup qualifying win

Scotland continued their unbeaten World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Belarus that was at times nervy but ended with a third consecutive victory in Group C.

Che Adams opened the scoring with a neat finish after 15 minutes and Scott McTominay looked to have put the result beyond doubt when he scored six minutes from time.

But an injury-time goal from Hleb Kuchko in injury time made for a tense finish and there were some boos at full-time after a far from stellar Scotland performance.

Thursday’s comeback win over Greece opened up an opportunity for Scotland to move to the top of the group, at least for a short while, ahead of the Greeks taking on Denmark later on Sunday.

Playing against a Belarus side ranked 100th in the world and who had conceded 13 goals in three games seemed like the perfect chance to build momentum.

Head coach Steve Clarke made five changes for the game, with Billy Gilmour and Kenny McLean coming into the midfield for suspended duo Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie, while Anthony Ralston replaced injured Aaron Hickey at right-back.

Clarke also changed his central defensive partnership, as Scott McKenna and Jack Hendry replaced Grant Hanley and John Souttar.

The match was Clarke’s 72nd in charge of the national team but the performance was far from the best of his tenure.

Belarus had plenty of possession early on, showing a threat they hadn’t demonstrated in the campaign so far, but Scotland struck after 15 minutes to take the lead.

Hendry’s ball in was controlled by Adams on the edge of the box and he turned his marker with ease and fired a clinical finish low into the corner of the net. The Tartan Army enjoyed the moment and could have anticipated an easier evening than what eventually transpired.

Scotland couldn’t add to the scoreline in the first half, though Ben Gannon Doak was a threat when he was on the ball, and as time ticked on after the break nerves began to show.

Adams thought he had earned his side a penalty after being pulled down in the box but a long VAR check eventually ruled that the striker had handled the ball in the build-up.

The officials then got involved again after Evgeni Malashevich scored what he thought was an equaliser with a smart finish. Again VAR took time over an intervention and the Belarus leveller was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.

The Hampden crowd was growing unhappy as well as worried but concerns seemed to disappear when a spell of pressure ended in a second goal. After Belarus failed to clear a cross into the box, it fell to McTominay who took a touch before smacking a shot past Fedor Lapoukhov to make it 2-0.

Even then, Scotland made the job of taking maximum points from the bottom seeds look difficult as the team crept back into their own half and eventually paid a price.

A low ball to Kuchko allowed the substitute to spin past Andy Robertson and slide a finish past Angus Gunn.

Scotland saw out the final moments and took the prize they wanted to go top of the group but the supporters left Clarke and the players in no doubt about how they viewed the performance when the final whistle sounded.

The team will now return for the decisive games in the group next month when they face Greece in Athens before what could be a group decider against Denmark at Hampden.