A toothless Scotland slipped further behind in their Nations League group as a second half comeback from Slovenia leaves them outside the promotion spots.
Scotland kicked off but after only three minutes Slovenia’s Adam Cerin was through on goal, but his shot rattled off the crossbar and was eventually cleared by the Scotland defence.
Ten minutes later, Cerin was at it again as his low driven shot was cleared off the line following good forward play by Slovenia. Gannon-Doak also cleared his lines from AljosaMatko’s effort.
On the half hour mark, Lewis Ferguson slid his freekick to Gannon-Doak, whose cross was met by Jack Hendry who forced a fingertip save by Oblak, however Ryan Christie followed in the rebound with a clever backheel to give Scotland the lead in front of an exuberant Hampden crowd. This was the Bournemouth man’s 11th international goal.
Vipotnik would drive into the Scotland box and unleash an effort at goal, but Angus Gunn was able to make the save a force a corner which was eventually cleared by the Scots.Scotland showed good pressure however Gannon-Doak was unable to get on the end of an Andy Robertson cross, who was making his 101st international appearance.
Scotland went into Half Time with a slender 1-0, which would place them into second of their Nations League group.
Five minutes into the second half, Gannon-Doak drove through the Slovenian defence and fed the ball through to Christie, whose shot was straight at the veteran Oblak.
However, five mins later Slovenia would reply, as Sturm would drive into the Scotland final third and slide the ball to Matko, who would shrug off Luis Binks and place his shot past Angus Gunn and into the bottom left corner. This was Matko’s second goal for the national team.
Slovenia would look for a second as Sturm’s effort from a tight angle blazed just over the bar. Following this would be a sustained period of pressure by Slovenia, much to the frustration of the Tartan Army in attendance.
Sebastien Pocognoli would make his first changes just after the hour mark, as last Saturday’s hero Kieran Bowie would enter proceedings for Oli McBurnie, who is still searching for his first Scotland goal. Stephen Welsh would also make way for Aaron Hickey.
Matko thought he had his second goal of the game as he once again broke through the Scotland defence for a cool finish past Gunn, however the linesman quickly raised the offside flag and the score remained 1-1.
However, Slovenia would not be denied as only a few minutes later the ever-present Matko would make a pacey run down the right-hand side and would find Danijel Sturm in the box, whose finish would put the away side in the lead. This was Sturm’s second international goal.
More changes would come as goalscorer Christie and Gannon-Doak would make way for Findlay Curtis and Scotland debutant Josh McPake. Soon after, claims of a Scotland penalty were waved away by Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez after substitute Findlay Curtis went down in the box.
The same scenario happened only a few minutes later, this time as Josh McPake was seemingly taken down in the on the left-hand side, but referee Sanchez was one again uninterested in the claims as boos reigned down on the Hampden pitch.
McPake was at the centre of the action down the left-handside as he slid the ball through to Bowie, who was unable to sort his feet and Oblak came to collect the ball.
With time running out for Scotland, Pocognoli would make yet another change as John McGinn made way for Sevilla’s Robbie Ure.
Billy Gimour would have a freekick in a promising position but was unable to steer his shot on target as Scotland desperately searched for an equaliser.
Scotland were unable to challenge Oblak during injury time, as the away side would see out the match for a 2-1 victory, as the Tartan Army made their thought clear upon the full-timewhistle.
Following this result, Scotland remain in third in their UEFA Nations League Group B1, four points ahead of North Macedonia but are now three points behind second place Slovenia.
They next face a home tie to North Macedonia and an away trip to Switzerland to round off their Nations League campaign during the November international break.
Scotland 1-2 Slovenia
Scotland: Gunn, Robertson ©, Binks, Welsh, McGinn, Gilmour, McBurnie, Christie, Hendry, Gannon-Doak, Ferguson
Subs: Kelly, Bain, Hickey (66’), Doig, Ure (86’), Miller, McPake (72’), Curtis (72’), Graham, Bowie (66’), Patterson, Montgomery
Slovenia: Oblak ©, Karnicnik, Zabukovnik, Bijol, Janza, Sturm, Zec, Vipotnik, Matko, Cerin, Brekalo
Subs: Vidovsek, Vekic, Balkovec, Kuzmic (89’), Urbancic, Lovric, Begic, Elsnik, Celar (79’), Svetlin, Horvat, Drkusic
Goals: Christie 31’, Matko 56’, Sturm 71’
