England were held to a goalless draw by Scotland in their Euro 2020 showdown at Wembley on Friday night.
The Three Lions were lacklustre – with Harry Kane again substituted after an anonymous performance – while the Scots were resilient, bold and fully deserving of a point which keeps their hopes of qualifying from Group D alive.
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England knew victory against the auld enemy would book their place in the last 16 with a match to spare, having beaten Croatia in their opening game.
But Scotland dug deep and gave Gareth Southgate’s side a few serious scares, with Steve Clarke getting his tactics spot on.
Clarke opted to hand Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour his first start for Scotland and he was outstanding in midfield, barely wasting a pass.
Southampton striker Che Adams was also impressive as he was fielded alongside Lyndon Dykes in attack and proved a handful for the England defence all night.
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The game was stop-start at the beginning with both sides committing several fouls as they tried to work each other out.
England settled the quicker and had two glorious chances to take the lead.
John Stones thudded a towering header against the post after finding himself in acres of space from a corner 11 minutes in, and should really have scored.
Raheem Sterling then found himself with room to run two minutes later and fired in a cross to Mason Mount, but the Chelsea star couldn’t quite get his shot on target.
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England had the most of the possession early on, but could not land the first blow.
Scotland almost made them pay on 29 minutes as wing-back Stephen O’Donnell’s sweetly struck shot called Jordan Pickford into action.
Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney had combined well down the left with the latter sending in a deep cross for O’Donnell to meet on the volley, which Pickford did well to palm away.
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The half ended goalless with Scotland undoubtedly being the happier of the two teams.
They’d done a good job marking Kane, with the Tottenham forward limited to just ten touches – the fewest of any player on the pitch.
England returned from half-time strongly and had two early chances.
Sterling crossed for Phil Foden, who tried to get in front of Tierney, but couldn’t turn the ball goalwards.
From the next phase of play, Mount fired in a shot towards goal and Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall parried out for a corner.
Adams then had a sniff of goal for Scotland, before Dykes’ strike was brilliantly cleared by Reece James.
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Replays showed it may have been heading wide, but Clarke’s men were creating enough chances to give England some worries.
England fans were calling for Jack Grealish’s introduction and got their wish 62 minutes into the game when he replaced Foden.
Southgate then opted to take off Kane, the captain withdrawn with 16 minutes left to play for Marcus Rashford, after an ineffectual display.
Neither substitution had the desired effect for England and it was Scotland who could have snatched it, when Adams found himself unmarked at the back post but lashed at the ball and blazed wide.
It remained goalless and Scotland players celebrated at the final whistle with the 2,000 or so of their fans inside Wembley.
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Having lost their opening game to the Czech Republic, the Scots now face Croatia at Hampden Park where a win would likely seal them a place in the last 16.
For England, while their performance was disappointing, qualification remains in their hands.
Beat the Czechs on Tuesday and they will top Group D.
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