Scotland U21 2-0 Netherlands U21
- Published
Oliver Burke slams in the opening goal for Scotland in Paisley
Captain Oliver Burke was on target as Scotland opened their Under-21 Euro 2019 qualifying campaign with a well earned win over Netherlands.
The West Brom forward powered in the opening goal in Paisley as the visitors failed to clear a corner.
Stevie Mallan then fired home when the Dutch defence blundered to present the Barnsley man with a one-on-one chance.
The visitors rarely threatened but did hit the post through Steven Bergwijn in the first half.
This was a far different story to when Scotland and Netherlands met at this level in the race for the Euro 2015. The Dutch won those two meetings 10-1 on aggregate, but no such chasm in class was evident here.
Instead Burke - who has five senior Scotland caps - showed national head coach Gordon Strachan what he might be able to offer against Slovakia and Slovenia in October, while Mallan, Lewis Morgan and Dom Thomas also impressed.
Scotland should have taken an early lead when Thomas's corner fell to an unmarked John Souttar 12 yards out, with the Hearts defender blasting his volley way over the crossbar.
The hosts' manager, Scot Gemmill, was animated and vocal on the sidelines as his team continued to apply pressure in the direction a Dutch goalkeeper in the shape of Twente's Joel Drommel, who sometimes looked a bit nervous dealing with pass-backs.
Kilmarnock midfielder Thomas watched his deflected shot go wide before the same man played in the ever-threatening Morgan - playing on his own St Mirren patch - to shoot past the far post. The highly-rated winger went even closer moments later after leaving Denzel Dumfries dizzy.
Mallan celebrates making it 2-0 to Scotland on 79 minutes
It took the visitors over half an hour to get their first real attempt in on goal and it cannoned back off the post. Bergwijn was denied following tidy set-up play by Pablo Rosario, who shot over from distance soon after.
Former St Mirren midfielder Mallan flighted in a two lovely deliveries for Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna either side of half-time; his first header was well saved and the second flew narrowly wide.
Scotland did hit the back of the net emphatically, though, when another Mallan corner could not be fully cleared by the Dutch defence and Burke, making his debut at this age group 17 months after his senior bow, rammed it into the middle of Drommel's goal.
Mallan had gone close with a neat flick before he extend Scotland's lead - running on to a loose ball after a terrible defensive mix-up and stroking it past Drommel from just inside the box. He is used to doing that in Paisley.
The Netherlands lost discipline in the closing stages with a flurry of yellow cards as Scotland got their campaign off to a great start.
Scotland meet England next at Middlebrough's Riverside on 6 October
Scot Gemmill's side are then away to Latvia four days later
Group winners qualify for finals in Italy and four best runners-up enter play-offs for last two places
Scotland Under-21 manager Scot Gemmill: "I'm delighted for the players, to play with that level of intelligence and intensity, the willingness to do the work that helps get that kind of result was there to be seen.
"We know we're working in the correct manner with a bunch of players that are willing to execute a game plan - and that's not just this age level but at the younger age levels as well."