Scotland’s abysmal 3-0 defeat by lowly Kazakhstan will go down as one of the bleakest nights in the national team’s history and leaves manager Alex McLeish under increasing pressure.
A lacklustre showing from the Scots was punished by goals from Yuriy Pertsukh and Yan Vorogovskiy within the opening 10 minutes.
Baktiyor Zainutdinov’s goal after the break sealed a comfortable victory for a Kazakh side ranked 117th in the world rankings – 77 places below the Scots.
McLeish has already been forced to salvage credibility after a similarly humiliating defeat against Israel last year which left the Nations League campaign dangling by a thread.
But Scotland recovered well to win the section and guarantee a play-off place for Euro 2020.
However, last night’s result sends the Scots back to square one.
It is more than just a severe blow to the hopes of securing automatic qualification to next summer’s finals.
It is impossible to underplay the damage the result has done to the pride of the nation, against a side that has won just one of its last 16 competitive fixtures across two qualifying campaigns.
Only five Scots players remained from the team that defeated Israel 3-2 at Hampden Park last time out in November and the lack of familiarity in the side which lined up in the newly-renamed Kazakh capital of Nursultan clearly showed.
But make no excuses – this was no way for a Scotland team to go down.
There was a first competitive start for Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie at left back, joined in the back line by Dons team-mate Scott McKenna, who shook off a hamstring problem, while there was also a debut for Sheffield Wednesday right back Liam Palmer.
Any hopes of a gentle grounding for the new-look side were rapidly diminished in a whirlwind opening 10 minutes.
The opening goal screamed simplicity, with Alexander Merkel afforded too much invitation to play in Pertsukh behind the static Scots defence.
When his untracked run beat the offside trap he gleefully lashed the ball high past incoming goalkeeper Scott Bain from just inside the box.
The Scots’ task intensified just four minutes later, with further questionable defending at the heart of it. Shinnie, so accustomed to being deployed at the heart of the Dons midfield, was caught off-guard by skipper Islambek Kuat’s threaded pass which picked out Vorogovskiy, who was able to tuck past Bain from 10 yards. After only 10 minutes, Scotland had a huge task on their hands.
The visitors desperately needed to show some attacking spark to encourage the roughly 650 travelling supporters that a comeback could happen.
Oli Burke was drafted in for his first senior cap in nearly two years and, although his rapid pace and intricacy down the left flank promised much, he delivered little by way of end product.
Clear-cut opportunities eluded Scotland, with wayward headers from David Bates and John McGinn well off target.
It was the hosts who came closest to adding a third before the interval, with Bain’s interventions required to make a fingertip save to thwart Kuat’s dipping long-range strike.
That only served to delay the inevitable as the Kazakhs cruised to a third goal just six minutes into the second period.
Zainutdinov rose to out-jump the normally dominant McKenna to nod Gafurzhan Suyumbayev’s deep delivery past Bain.
There were vain attempts to salvage a consolation, with Armstrong’s low drilled effort well saved by Dmytro Nepohodov in the Kazakh goalkeeper’s first meaningful intervention, following a neat exchange with the otherwise ineffective Oli McBurnie.
But Scotland went down with a whimper.
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s trip to San Marino, the pain of this result will be felt for some time, with Scotland now looking to resurrect what was already a challenging task to secure automatic entry to what would be a first major finals in 22 years.
KAZAKHSTAN (3-5-2) – Nepohodov 6, Maliy 6, Postnikov 6, Yerlanov 6 (Akhmetov 81), Kuat 8, Pertsukh 7, Vorogovskiy 8, Suyumbayev 6, Merkel 7, Murtazayev 6 (Turysbek 68), Zainutdinov 7 (Muzhikov 84).
SCOTLAND (4-3-3) – Bain 5, Palmer 5, Shinnie 5, Bates 5, McKenna 5, McGinn 5 (McTominay 71), McGregor 5; Forrest 5 (McNulty 81), Armstrong 6, Burke 6; McBurnie 5 (Russell 61). Subs not used: McLaughlin, O’Donnell, Souttar, Findlay, Fleck, McLean, Kelly, Morgan.
Referee – S, Jovanovic (Serbia) – 6
Attendance – 27,641.
Man of the match: Kuat.