Northern Ireland 0 - 3 Scotland

• Niall Farrell
• Wed, Feb 09 2011


Scotland moved to joint top of the Carling Nations Cup table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Goals from Kenny Miller, James McArthur and Kris Commons got the win, but it a brilliant overall performance from the Scots. Craig Levein's side played an expansive passing game in their 4-5-1 formation to great effect.

Kenny Miller missed the a great chance on 13 minutes- shooting over from yards out after Kris Commons did all the hard work on the wing to cross into the Bursaspor striker. Commons was Scotland's most consistent attacking threat, terrorising the Northern Ireland full-back with pace.

Miller atoned for his earlier miss six minutes later to open the scoring for Scotland, though. After a hurried clearance from a Commons run, Charlie Adam swung a corner in to the Northern Ireland penalty area. Chris Bardsley stabbed it towards goal, where Sammy Craigan should have cleared the ball. Miller got to the ball first though and hammered it past the extended Jonathan Tuffey in goals from close range.

Northern Ireland attempted to peg the Scots back though, with a free-kick grazing the crossbar. Scotland followed this up with two good chances before the half hour mark. Steven Caldwell headed against the crossbar at the other end moments later, and Gareth McAuley had to clear the ball off the Northern line on 25 minutes after a Kris Commons shot.

Scotland were dominant on the ball though, and were queuing up chance after chance. Their second goal never seemed far away, and it came on 32 minutes in bizarre circumstances. James McArthur, attempting to find Kenny Miller at the far post, instead caught Tuffey off guard and the ball looped casually over the Inverness 'keeper.

Nigel Worthington's men weren't able to keep the ball, and the Scots enjoyed numerous chances before half time. Kenny Miller went close from a header on 38 minutes after a Phil Bardsley cross on the left. On the opposite wing, James Morrison headed into the arms of Tuffey after 41 minutes. Northern Ireland did eventually have a half-chance, with a rare foray into the Scottish half on 42 minutes yielding nothing but a wasted corner.

Scotland began the second half in the same dominant form, and got a deserved third goal after 50 minutes. Kris Commons passed the ball past the helpless Tuffey after a flurry of Scottish passes. Naismith split the defence in two in the penultimate act of the move to leave the new Celtic signing free on the right to slot the ball in.

The Scottish dominance showed no sign of letting up, even after that third goal. They passed it about with the pomp which hasn't been seen in recent Scottish sides. Substitutes Barry Bannan and Robert Snodgrass were impressive- with the midfield pair stringing pass after pass together. Mark Wilson's 68th minute cross deflected off a defender and was only just tipped wide by Tuffey.

Northern Ireland did have a bit more possession in the remainder of the second half, but clear-cut chances were scarce. Oliver Norwood's weak 77th minute shot was as close to a chance Northern Ireland got, and it dribbled into the arms of McGregor, Scotland immediately reasserted their dominance though, and a minute later Barry Bannan forced Tuffey into a fantastic save from a 25-yard free kick. What was a strong Scottish performance was sealed with Craig Levein's side comfortably seeing out the remainder of the match.

Northern Ireland: Johnathan Tuffey; Rory McArdle [Lee Hodson HT], Chris Baird, Gareth McCauley, Stephen Craigan (c) [Adam Thompson '66], Corry Evans, Pat McCourt, Steven Davis [ Oliver Norwood '57], Rory Patterson, Grant McCann [David Healy HT], Niall McGinn [Liam Boyce '71]
Subs: Alan Blayney

Scotland: Allan McGregor; Alan Hutton, Phil Bardsley [Mark Wilson '57], Christophe Berra, Stephen Caldwell, Charlie Adam [Barry Bannan '57], James Morrison [Chris Maguire 79'], Steven Naismith [Robert Snodgrass '57], Kenny Miller (c) [Danny Wilson 89'], James McArthur, Kris Commons [Craig Conway '71]
Subs: Cameron Bell, Grant Hanley, Gary Caldwell

Referee: Tomas Connolly (Ireland)

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Kris Commons