Scotland 1-1 Israel
This was always likely to be a closely contested UEFA Nations League clash.
Their recent meetings in the inaugural tournament had seen a win for each by a one-goal margin and so there was clearly little between the sides.
Throw in two new coaches and two sets of players aiming to make their mark and the scene was set for a hard-fought encounter.
A quick look at the UEFA Nations League betting odds here at SBOTOP showed that Scotland were favourites and looking to win four consecutive matches for the first time since October 2007.
Israel, in contrast, had only won one of their last seven fixtures. They’ve lost five including their latest two, and are 93rd in the world rankings – 53 places below Scotland.
However, football is rarely that simple to predict.
Highlights of the game
Israel arrived with a new head coach following Andreas Herzog’s resignation.
As the Israel FA’s sporting director, former Austria U-21 boss Willi Ruttensteiner had been instrumental in the appointment of his compatriot and had now succeeded him in a joint role in charge of the senior squad.
This was the first of two duels in four days for their new boss and a super venue to begin with.
Without fans, Hampden Park may not be the hotbed it normally is but it remains home and from where Scotland’s hope and heartbeat stems.
Passion was something they had throughout the first half as they pressed the visitors from the start, enjoying long spells of possession even if their play was too often pedestrian and lacking penetration.
The main surprise saw midfielder Scott McTominay named at centre-back in a back three and he played a key role in the first real chance of the game just before the break.
At first, the Manchester United man misjudged a right-wing cross which reached Moannes Dabbur, but his goalbound header was saved by the diving David Marshall before McTominay redeemed himself by blocking the follow-up.
Moments later, a Scottish corner was headed down by lively debutant Lyndon Dykes towards John McGinn who was adjudged to have been fouled and Ryan Christie emphatically converted the resulting penalty.
Interestingly with no crowd, some of the Israel substitutes could be heard booing and shouting to try and put Christie off his spot-kick.
On the stroke of half-time, some would have thought the opener would be the cue for Scotland to go on and win and perhaps offer a repeat of the night a James Forrest hat-trick clinched promotion to this level of the tournament – a competition Portugal won on home soil last summer.
However, any further UEFA Nations League highlights belonged to Israel after the break and they earned a deserved share of the spoils 17 minutes from time.
After full-back Eli Dasa curled a superb cross into the danger zone that evaded everyone in the six-yard box, Israel came again and netted a fine equaliser.
Eran Zahavi received a throw-in, played a quick one-two on the edge of the area and volleyed the bouncing ball past Marshall.
With a point apiece, their re-match in a Euro 2020 play-off meeting in a month’s time will be even more tense.
Key statistics
Christie has been directly involved in seven goals in his last seven starts for Scotland (two goals, five assists).
Zahavi has been directly involved in 17 goals in his last 13 appearances for his country (14 goals, three assists). Both of Zahavi’s goals in the UEFA Nations League have been against Scotland at Hampden Park.
Scotland have drawn their first game since October 2017 in a match against Slovenia, ending a run of 21 consecutive matches without a draw.
This was the first time Israel had avoided defeat in an away game against Scotland, having lost their previous two visits in 1981 and 2018.
Scotland have won four and drawn one of their six meetings with Israel, losing the other in 2018.
What’s next?
It’s straight back into action on Monday for both nations.
Scotland travel to the Czech Republic while Israel host the other team in this group in Slovakia.
Israel return to Hampden next month where the winners of the European Championship play-off will be one game away from next summer’s tournament.
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