Southampton: Armstrong comes off the bench as Scotland win
By Chris Hughes
Last night Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong played a part as his Scotland side beat Albania in the UEFA Nations League.
After a disappointing result last week that saw the Scots thumped by Belgium on home soil, Alex McLeish will be happy to see his side keep a clean sheet and come out as victors in this fixture at Hampden Park.
Having said that, the game against Albania was goalless at half-time and went on to only be Scotland’s second win of the year, as much like Steven Davis’ Northern Ireland they have enjoyed a tricky 2018.
Nonetheless they are off to a winning start in the new UEFA Nations League with the victory, and sit top of their group on goal difference thanks to the win over the Albanians, with the latter having recorded their own victory over Israel last week.
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The Southampton midfielder replaced Kevin McDonald at half-time and had an instant impact as Scotland scored just two minutes later, as Steven Naismith’s header was deflected goalwards by Albania’s Berat Djimsiti in just the 47th minute.
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The home side had wasted many a chance in the first 45 meaning the own goal provided a much-needed confidence boost – they doubled their lead just twenty minutes later as Naismith was once again in the thick of it – his header this time sailing straight in past highly-rated Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha.
Albania managed six shots over the duration of the game with two of those testing the experienced Allan McGregor, however this was nothing compared to the 25 attempts by the home side.
Following the friendly loss to World Cup semi-finalists Belgium, McLeish will be happy to see his team on the other side of a dominating performance whilst Southampton fans will be pleased by the impact their midfielder made.
With Saints manager Mark Hughes regularly rotating his formation so far this campaign Armstrong has found it hard to cement a first-team spot down but his ability to run at defenders through the middle of the park is almost unrivaled in the Southampton squad, and we’ll hope to see him make a bigger impact as the busy festive period arrives.