Scotland 3-0 Northern Ireland
Nations Cup 2011
Wed 9th February 2011
19:45
Aviva Stadium, Dublin (N)
Att: 18,742
Miller(19)
McArthur(32)
Commons(51)
A McGregor
A Hutton
S Caldwell
C Berra
P Bardsley (M Wilson 57)
S Naismith (R Snodgrass 58)
C Adam (B Bannan 57)
J McArthur
J Morrison (C Maguire 79)
K Commons (C Conway 72)
K Miller(C) (D Wilson 90)
Manager:
Craig Levein
FIFA Ranking: 53
J Tuffey
R McArdle (L Hodson 46)
C Baird
G McAuley
S Craigan (A Thompson 66)
P McCourt
C Evans
S Davis (O Norwood 58)
G McCann (D Healey 46)
N McGinn (L Boyce 72)
R Patterson
FIFA Ranking: 38
Key: Goals Missed Penalty Red Card
| 1 | Allan McGregor (Rangers) | (10 Caps) | Age: 29 | ||
| 2 | Alan Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur) | (19 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 3 | Phil Bardsley (Sunderland) | (3 Caps) | Age: 25 | ||
| 4 | Christophe Berra (Wolves) | (10 Caps) | Age: 26 | ||
| 5 | Stephen Caldwell (Wigan Athletic) | (12 Caps) | Age: 30 | ||
| 6 | Charlie Adam (Blackpool) | (8 Caps) | Age: 25 | ||
| 7 | James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion) | (11 Caps) | Age: 24 | ||
| 8 | Steven Naismith (Rangers) | (8 Caps) | Age: 24 | ||
| 9 | Kenny Miller (Bursaspor) Captain |
 |
(52 Caps) | Age: 31 | |
| 11 | Kris Commons (Celtic) |
|
(8 Caps) | Age: 27 | |
| 13 | James McArthur (Wigan Athletic) |
|
(2 Caps) | Age: 23 | |
| 14 | Danny Wilson (Liverpool) | (2 Caps) | Age: 19 | ||
| (Replaced Kenny Miller 90 min) | |||||
| 15 | Barry Bannan (Aston Villa) | (2 Caps) | Age: 21 | ||
| (Replaced Charlie Adam 57 min) | |||||
| 16 | Mark Wilson (Celtic) |  |
(1 Cap) | Age: 26 | |
| (Replaced Phil Bardsley 57 min) | |||||
| 17 | Craig Conway (Dundee Utd) | (2 Caps) | Age: 25 | ||
| (Replaced Kris Commons 72 min) | |||||
| 19 | Chris Maguire (Aberdeen) | (1 Cap) | Age: 22 | ||
| (Replaced James Morrison 79 min) | |||||
| 20 | Robert Snodgrass (Leeds Utd) | (1 Cap) | Age: 23 | ||
| (Replaced Steven Naismith 58 min) | |||||
Yellow Card  Red Card  Double Booking Goals Scored  Penalty Save |
|||||
20 Robert Snodgrass
Nations Cup 2011
Wed 9th February 2011
19:45
Aviva Stadium, Dublin (N)
Att: 18,742
Craig Levein called up some inexperienced players for the first Nations Cup match against Northern Ireland. Blackburn's Grant Hanley and Aberdeen's Chris Maguire were included along with Leeds Utd's Robert Snodgrass. Experienced players like captain Darren Fletcher withdrew due to injury, along with Craig Gordon, Graham Dorrans and Lee McCulloch. This meant that Kenny Miller, who was the only player with 20+ caps, captained Scotland.
The first good chance of the match fell to Scotland when Commons made a good run down the left and crossed in the middle only for Kenny Miller to shoot over the bar. Five minutes later Scotland took the lead. A corner from Adam was headed on by Bardsley to bounce off two defenders, and the loose ball was slotted home by Miller who was only a yard off the line. Stephen Caldwell had a header clip the bar and Commons had a goalbound shot blocked by McAuley before Scotland doubled their lead. Hutton on the right hand side passed to McArthur on the edge of the box. He played a high ball to the back post that fortunately lobbed the keeper and went in the top corner to make it 2-0. Bardsley then had a shot from the edge of the box that was tipped over the bar by the keeper Tuffey. Six minutes into the second half, a great passing move by Scotland was finished by Morrison passing to Naismith on the edge of the box, who played a quick ball into the path of Commons who slotted the ball through the legs of Tuffey to make it 3-0. Substitute Bannan had a free-kick touched over the bar by Tuffey, and debutant Snodgrass shot just wide of the right hand post. With eight minutes remaining Northern Ireland had their only clear chance of the match when a cross by Norwood was headed straight at McGregor by Patterson. It was another fine display by a Scotland team that is gaining confidence after the performances against Spain, Faroe Islands and now Northern Ireland.