Scotland continued their quest to reach next summer’s World Cup with an unconvincing 2-1 win over Belarus at Hampden.
Steve Clarke’s men will be delighted to take full spoils in the encounter with the lowest-ranked team in Group C, but were made to sweat by their plucky visitors, who put up a good fight three days on from being thrashed 6-0 by Denmark.
Scotland took the lead on 16 minutes when Che Adams fired home after an excellent pass from Jack Hendry. However, Scotland failed to kick on and had to wait until deep into the second half for Scott McTominay to give them breathing space with a neat finish.
Belarus had a goal disallowed at 1-0 but did get themselves a goal in stoppage time from Gleb Kuchko, but it turned out just to be a consolation.
It means Scotland are very well placed for a top-two finish ahead of their final matches against Greece away and Denmark at home next month.
Here are the ratings out of ten for each player involved.
5. Scott McKenna
It was no surprise to see the Dinamo Zagreb defender installed at the heart of Scotland's defence given the need for pace with a higher line than against Greece. He was kept on his toes by a livelier than expected Belarussian forward line that played with an element of freedom and could not stop a neat interchange that resulted in Belarus' strike. 6 | AFP via Getty Images
6. Kenny McLean
The experienced Norwich man was brought in to anchor the midfield but was made to look ordinary at times by Belarus' neat passing. This was a difficult night for him on his 53rd cap. 5 | SNS Group
7. Billy Gilmour
Split open the Belarussian defence early with a nice ball for Adams and one wondered if this would be the night when he would completely dominate the midfield. As it was, spent a lot of the game trying to put out Belarussian fires and didn't create much. He wasn't helped by those ahead of him. Came off for Miller towards the end. 6 | AFP via Getty Images
8. John McGinn
One of Scotland's more accomplished midfielders, he was asked once again to play out wide. A lot of what he tried never came off, but he never stopped working. Had a right-footed strike well saved by Belarus keeper Lapoukhov. Moves on to 81 caps for his country. 6 | SNS Group