Southampton: Armstrong and Scotland win in Nations League
By Marc Walker
Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong helped Scotland to a comprehensive 4-0 win over Albania in the Nations League yesterday.
The 26-year-old played the first hour of the contest before being replaced by Manchester United’s Scott McTominay.
This victory keeps Scotland’s promotion hopes alive in group C1 as they move level on points with Israel, who they meet in a vital group deciding clash in Glasgow on Tuesday.
An opening goal from Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser put them on course for their win, and a Steven Fletcher penalty gave them a 2-0 lead going into half-time.
Two further strikes from Celtic’s James Forrest completed the rout, with his second being a brilliantly taken volley after flicking the ball up inside the box.
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If Scotland do manage to gain promotion to league B for the next Nations League competition in 2020, they will be in a group with Germany after they were relegated from the A league.
For the important clash with Israel, manager Alex McLeish is likely to play his strongest team to try and get the win that his side needs.
It remains to be seen whether this will mean another start for Armstrong, but the Saints midfielder has certainly experienced an improvement in time on the pitch in the past week.
He also started Saints’ 1-1 draw with Watford last weekend and looked lively with some clever passes and a close-range chance that could have put Mark Hughes’ side 2-0 up in the first-half.
With more emphasis on attacking needed in Hughes’ side, he could see a more prominent role emerge for himself in attacking-midfield.
Two other Saints players had international games to prepare for yesterday, but neither Cedric or Mario Lemina would play and remained as unused substitutes.
Cedric’s Portugal managed a decent 0-0 draw in Italy in the Nations League, whilst Lemina’s Gabon would lose narrowly by 1-0 to Mali in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Portugal have now won their Nations League group and head into the next stage of the competition, whilst Gabon still have a strong chance of qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations despite their loss.