Scotland lost 1-0 to Morocco at the Boston Stadium on Friday, beaten by Ismael Saibari's 70-second strike. Steve Clarke pointed to two ignored penalty claims, while Kieran Tierney left the pitch with cramp.
Scotland lost 1-0 to Morocco at the Boston Stadium on Friday, beaten by Ismael Saibari's 70-second strike. Steve Clarke pointed to two ignored penalty claims, while Kieran Tierney left the pitch with cramp.
Morocco led inside two minutes at the Boston Stadium. Brahim Diaz lifted the ball over the top, Saibari slipped behind two defenders and drove a finish into the top-left corner past Angus Gunn after 70 seconds. This was briefly the fastest of the tournament.
The world's sixth-ranked side controlled the game from there, generating 0.97 expected goals from 12 shots against Scotland's 0.54 from six. Clarke's players pushed after the break but could not find a leveller.
Scotland had two strong appeals waved away in the second half. John McGinn went down under a challenge from Neil El Aynaoui, and the same Morocco player later felled Scott McTominay in the area. Uzbekistan referee Ilgiz Tantashev rejected both, with VAR not intervening.
"I thought the John McGinn one was 50-50. Some will give it, and I think if the referee gives it to VAR, it doesn't overturn it. So, I can only speak on that one," said Scotland's manager.
Clarke also questioned an earlier incident, when Issa Diop hauled down Che Adams as the striker burst clear. "He had a chance to go through one-on-one with the goalkeeper and he gets brought down," Clarke said. "Again, the referee chooses yellow and VAR backs the referee but there's nothing we can do about it."
Morocco boss Mohamed Ouahbi saw it differently. "The end result, we are happy. We wanted three points and we got them. That was the objective," he said. "I think we were very good the whole match and controlled it."
There was an early concern when Kieran Tierney was withdrawn, with Ben Gannon-Doak introduced in his place. Clarke confirmed at full-time the defender had not picked up anything serious.
"Kieran was terrific, he just cramped up a little bit," he said, explaining that Gannon-Doak offered "a bit of unpredictability higher up the pitch, a threat that is different."
The defeat leaves Scotland on three points from two matches, after their 1-0 win over Haiti delivered a first World Cup victory in 36 years. The top two in each group advance automatically, along with the eight best third-placed sides, so qualification remains in reach.
Clarke insisted the result would sting before his squad refocus. "First of all, you have to let the players suffer a little bit over the next 48 hours because that's what they'll do, they don't like losing against anybody," he said. "Proud of the players, but obviously we're all devastated and disappointed that we didn't get the result we wanted."
Scotland close Group C against five-times champions Brazil in Miami on Wednesday. Morocco, who drew 1-1 with Brazil in their opener, face Haiti the same day.
