Clarke will be praising his men at half-time for their first half-performance but he will be stressing the need for them to be more clinical with added quality in front of goal. Silhavy, in contrast, may be delighted to be a goal up, however, Czech Republic struggled to get a grip of proceedings for the majority of the first half.
Scotland started brightly at Hampden Park and went close through both Dykes and Robertson. Despite the Scots’ positive, fast-paced start, it was Schick who gave Czech Republic the lead with a 42nd-minute header past Marshall. Clarke’s men have worked hard but find themselves a goal down at the break.
45′ + 2′ HALF-TIME: SCOTLAND 0-1 CZECH REPUBLIC
45′ + 1′ McTominay powers into the area before being bundled over by Boril. The hosts appeal for a penalty but the referee suggests it was the Scottish midfielder running into the left-back as opposed to it being a foul. VAR checks the decision before sticking with the referee’s original call.
45′ Schick has scored his 12th goal for Czech Republic, with today’s appearance his 27th for his country. In fact, Schick has been involved in 9 goals in his last 9 starts for Czech Republic in all competitions (7 goals, 2 assists).
44′ McGinn gets frustrated as a free-kick in the middle gets delayed by a crowd of Czech bodies. Despite the Scots’ early dominance, they face the prospect of going in a goal behind at half-time at Hampden Park with just over a minute left before the half-time whistle.
42′ Scotland think they have dealt with the initial danger from the corner but Darida keeps the ball alive and offloads to the overlapping Coufal. The right-back stands up a right-footed cross towards the penalty spot, where Schick beats Hanley to flick a header into the bottom left corner past Marshall.
42′ GOOOOOOALLLL! 1-0 CZECH REPUBLIC! A third corner for the away side comes in quick succession, this time from McTominay’s block. Jankto plays a left-footed cross in and Hanley glances away. Darida recovers, offloading to Coufal, who makes it to the byline before crossing towards the penalty spot. Schick gets in front of Hanley, towering above the centre-back to head into the bottom left corner. Marshall at full stretch has no chance of keeping that one out and the home side go a goal behind.
41′ Kral retrieves possession and wins a corner on the left flank as O’Donnell clears behind. Jankto produces an outswinging cross, which goes away from danger as he overhits his cross.
39′ Schick wins a corner on the left-hand side, courtesy of Cooper’s tackle behind. Darida delivers but his outswinging delivery ends up near the left-hand touchline as he misses all of his team-mates inside the area.
38′ With just over five minutes until the half-time whistle, Silhavy may be scratching his head as to how he gets his team more involved in this game. Clarke, while happy with his men’s first-half performance, will be aware his side need to capitalise on their first-half dominance.
37′ Vaclik is forced into going long and Jankto manages to collect the ball before playing into Schick. The forward looks to offload to Masopust but McTominay and his midfield partners intervene to regain possession for the hosts.
35′ The left-hand channel is where Clarke’s men are causing all the problems. With Armstrong drifting out wide, supported by Christie and the overlapping runs by Robertson, Czech Republic can’t cope down there at the moment.
34′ Robertson nips around Coufal, making it to the byline before standing a cross up towards the far post. The visitors manage to clear in front of Vaclik, just as Dykes and Christie were arriving to pounce.
32′ CHANCE! Christie finds space inside the right flank and drives centrally before offloading to the left of goal. Robertson has powered forward to overlap and has the chance to test Vaclik in a one-on-one situation. The left wing-back tries to smash towards the near post with his left foot but Vaclik does well to tip over the crossbar and keep the scores level.
31′ Scotland have picked up just one victory in each of their two previous appearances in the European Championships, with both wins coming in their final group stage match (3-0 vs CIS in 1992, 1-0 vs Switzerland in 1996). The hosts, however, have started brightly in the opening 30 minutes here.
29′ Masopust spins inwards from the right-hand channel and plays out to the left. Jankto crosses towards the far post and Soucek nearly sneaks in, only for Robertson to manage to hook away a clearance.
27′ Boril smashes a clearance away down the left flank as the visitors continue to struggle to get their foot on the ball and calm proceedings down at Hampden Park. Clarke’s men are hassling them at any opportunity they get and Silhavy’s team look a little out of ideas at the minute.
26′ Dykes outjumps his opposite man to flick a header on for the run of Christie. Vaclik though reads the situation and comes rushing out of his goal to sweep up any potential danger.
25′ After a fairly high-paced start from the Scots, they have simmered slightly but still appear intent on getting the ball forward to Dykes as quickly as possible. On this occasion, it’s Hendry who looks long, however, his pass travels all the way through to Vaclik.
23′ Robertson shelters a throughball out of play and the home side get a goal-kick. The Scottish captain raced across to the left-hand side, sensing the danger of Coufal and did well to intervene in front of the right-back.
21′ Christie twists and turns past two tackles before O’Donnell goes down on the right-hand touchline. The hosts appeal for a foul on their right wing-back but referee Siebert shakes his head and demands play goes on.
19′ Hanley heads behind to offer the visitors their first corner of the game. Jankto goes short before getting a pass back and curls an inviting delivery towards the near post. Despite the teasing cross, no Czech player can get near it and the ball goes out for a throw-in on the opposite side.
18′ WIDE! Brilliant exchanges from Robertson and Armstrong down the left flank allows space for the left wing-back. The Liverpool man whips a cross towards the front post and Dykes gets in front of his man to poke a right-footed effort towards the bottom left corner. Unfortunately for the hosts, Dykes’ attempt goes just wide of goal to the left, much to the relief of Vaclik, who may have struggled to save that shot from close range.
17′ After being the hero in the qualifiying stages for Clarke’s side, Marshall’s appearance here makes him the second oldest player (36y 101d) to appear for Scotland at a major tournament (Euros and World Cups) after 39-year-old Jim Leighton in the 1998 World Cup.
16′ GREAT SAVE! Jankto dispossesses McGinn and drives towards the byline before pulling back to the edge of the area. Schick runs onto the offload, curling a left-footed strike towards the bottom right corner, where Marshall gets down well to push around the post.
15′ Christie throws his arms in the air in frustration as a throw-in decision goes against him. Boril wanders forward before getting the ball back in play, much to the annoyance of the Scotland fans who seem to be accusing the left-back of wasting time.
14′ Marshall rushes out of his area to the left flank to power a clearance into the Hampden Park stands. Jankto was hovering in behind Hanley and the Scottish goalkeeper had to be quick to intervene there.
13′ Jankto and Darida stand over the set-piece and it’s the former who delivers towards the back post. Kalas looks interested, however, O’Donnell ushers the ball behind for a goal-kick.
12′ The referee thinks about playing advantage before pulling it back for a foul on Darida by Armstrong. Czech Republic have a free-kick in a decent position out wide on the right flank.
10′ O’Donnell is far too enthusiastic as he smashes through the back of Boril’s ankle. Silhavy’s men get a free-kick out wide inside their own half and, perhaps more importantly, a chance to catch their breath and settle things down.
8′ This is Scotland’s 11th appearance at major tournament (World Cup + Euros), including their first Euro participation since 1996. They have never progressed past the group stages in any of their previous 10.
6′ Robertson’s set-piece gets headed away but Armstrong keeps the ball alive before losing possession. The visitors are under real pressure inside the first 10 minutes.
5′ Armstrong goes wandering down the left flank before Robertson clashes with Coufal near the right-hand touchline. In the right-hand corner, McGinn makes it to the byline before winning a corner for his side.
3′ Robertson surges down the left-hand side, however, his cross can only find O’Donnell on the opposite wing. Every Scottish touch is being met with roars of support from the home supporters inside Hampden Park.
2′ O’Donnell feeds into the right-hand channel for McGinn in the opening stages but Boril covers well before hooking a clearance down the line.
1′ With the national anthems over and done with, referee Daniel Siebert gets the game underway!
Scotland have won each of their last three matches against Czech Republic, their longest current winning run against any of the other 23 nations qualified for Euro 2020. It’s the first meeting between both sides at a major tournament (World Cup or European Championship).
Jaroslav Silhavy names an unchanged line-up from their win against Albania. West Ham duo Soucek and Coufal start for the visitors in a line-up which also includes the familiar face of former Chelsea centre-back Kalas. Schick leads the line as he gets the nod ahead of Krmencik for the trip to Hampden Park.
Perhaps the biggest news for the Scots is that Kieran Tierney misses out today through injury. Clarke opts for four changes in total. Cooper replaces Declan Gallagher and Hendry comes in for the injured Tierney at the back. In midfield, Armstrong is preferred ahead of McGregor and further forward Adams makes way for the inclusion of Christie.
SUBS: Michal Krmencik, Adam Hlozek, Matej Vydra, Tomas Pekhart, Jakub Brabec, Antonin Barak, David Zima, Petr Sevcik, Tomas Holes, Ales Mandous, Pavel Kaderabek, Ales Mateju.
CZECH REPUBLIC (4-2-3-1): Tomas Vaclik; Jan Boril, Tomas Kalas, Ondrej Celustka, Vladimir Coufal; Tomas Soucek, Alex Kral; Jakub Jankto, Vladimir Darida, Lukas Masopust; Patrik Schick.
SUBS: Che Adams, Scott McKenna, Billy Gilmour, Kevin Nisbet, Jon McLaughlin, James Forrest, David Turnbull, Ryan Fraser, Callum McGregor, Craig Gordon, Greg Taylor, Nathan Patterson.
SCOTLAND (3-5-2): David Marshall; Jack Hendry, Liam Cooper, Grany Hanley; Andrew Robertson, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Stuart Armstrong, Stephen O’Donnell; Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes.
Czech Republic’s summer friendlies got off to a poor start as they were dispatched of 4-0 by Italy. A 3-1 victory over Albania, however, will give the visitors confidence coming into the game at Hampden Park today. A runners-up finish to Germany at Euro 1996, followed by semi-final and quarter-final appearances in 2004 and 2012 prove that the Czechs are more than capable of holding their own in this tournament.
This fixture marks Scotland’s first match at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. The hosts qualified for this tournament courtesy of back-to-back victories on penalties over both Israel and Serbia. Steve Clarke’s team will be satisfied with their pre-tournament preparations, having played out a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands before beating Luxembourg 1-0.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group D clash between Scotland and Czech Republic at Hampden Park.
