Scotland suffered another late sucker punch as Cristiano Ronaldo’s close-range strike off the bench proved decisive and earned Portugal maximum points in the UEFA Nations League Group A1.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland the dream start after 7 minutes in Lisbon. And they managed to ride a Portugal storm until Bruno Fernandes levelled proceedings early in the second half.
Steve Clarke opted to name an unchanged line-up from Thursday's defeat against Poland, much to many of the Tartan Army's surprise.
That decision almost paid off before the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward pounced to net what proved the winner.
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- Craig Gordon is still Scotland's best goalkeeper, says former manager
Here's how we rated Clarke's men this evening...
Angus Gunn 6
Made a tremendous low stop to prevent Rafael Leao from equalising on 20 minutes. Then denied Diogo Jota at point-blank range shortly after.
His first 45 display would've helped showcase why he still deserves to be Clarke's first choice goalkeeper after question marks were raised around his position. But the Norwich City shot-stopper will know he should've done better as Fernandes' low effort found the back of the net to equaliser early into the second half. You can't be making such errors at this elite international level. Even if he did attempt to redeem himself afterwards.
Anthony Ralston 6
It was expected to be a tough test for the Celtic right-back given his lack of game time at club level and the stature of the opponent. Yet despite having to contend with Leao's pace down the flank, he put in a brave performance and stuck to his task extremely well.
Grant Hanley 6
The experienced centre-back was commanding in the air and seemed to know not to dive in to tackles so easily after giving away a needless penalty last time out.
Scott McKenna 5
Was culpable of not getting close enough to his man on a few occasions, got away with it until he got caught ball watching and allowed the deadly Ronaldo to score.
Andy Robertson 6
Celebrated becoming Scotland's tied fifth most capped player as he earned his 76th cap. Booked in second half for a late challenge on Ruben Neves, and repeatedly made sure his Portuguese counterparts weren't going to pass him easily.
Billy Gilmour 7
Kept the ball ticking nicely in midfield and covered a fair distance. A great asset to have.
Kenny McLean 7
Played a pin-point ball to set up McTominay's opener from a free-kick. Quietly effective otherwise until injury forced him off with 16 minutes remaining.
Scott McTominay 8
He's just an enigma for the national team. He headed in his 10th goal from his last 17 appearances in Scotland colours, arriving cleverly at the back post to beat Diogo Costa. We are blessed to call on such talent!
John McGinn 6
His energy was crucial to Scotland's positive start to the match. The midfielder's influence did fade as the visitors possession stats unsurprisingly dwindled, but his effort was undoubtedly there throughout.
Ryan Christie 6
Played with bags of energy and always tried to drive his side forward when he got on the ball.
Lyndon Dykes 6
It's usually a helpless task as a lone striker, never mind against one of the best teams in the world. However, his role in McTominay's goal can't be underestimated as he helped the Napoli star find space to nod home.
His willingness to track back was credible too, even though it's now just one goal from his last 12 Scotland outings.
Substitutes:
Tommy Conway (for Dykes 74’) 4
Was one way traffic at the other end for the majority of his time on the pitch.
Ryan Gauld (for McLean, 74’) 4
Tried to get involved to no avail.
Lewis Morgan (for Christie, 87') 2
Did nothing of note.
Ben Doak (for McGinn, 90’) 2
Sadly not enough time to make any notable impact.
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