Arabic version: بطاقة حمراء مبكرة لاسكتلندا تخيّم على الظهور الأول لبوتشونيولي

According to BBC News, Scotland’s first home match under coach Sebastien Pocognoli ended in a 3-0 defeat to Switzerland at Hampden after Jack Hendry was sent off early in the game.

Hendry was dismissed after 11 minutes for pulling back Dan Ndoye as the Switzerland forward raced through. Ricardo Rodriguez scored from the resulting free-kick, leaving Scotland a goal down and reduced to 10 men against a Swiss side described as the world’s 14th-best team.

Scotland fought after the setback, with John McGinn winning fouls and Oli McBurnie working hard up front, but they could not find a goal. The defeat extended Scotland’s scoring drought to four matches, while Switzerland added two further goals.

Pocognoli said the squad had been excited to begin “the first page of the book at home”, but Scotland now turn their attention to Saturday’s match in Skopje against North Macedonia. Luis Binks defended well on his debut, while Stephen Welsh was praised for his performance after coming on following the red card.

North Macedonia are winless in 10 games and have scored two goals in that period. Scotland will look to end both their goal drought and their run without a victory in the next match.