Caroline Weir scored with a sensational lob

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

Caroline Weir's 90th-minute wonder strike from 35 yards in their friendly in Morocco secured Scotland a dramatic first win in almost a year.

Elodie Nakkach's late equaliser for this year's Women's Africa Cup of Nations runners-up cancelled out Erin Cuthbert's first-half goal direct from a corner in Casablanca.

But captain Weir pounced on Khadija Er-Rmichi's clearance and launched the ball over the stranded goalkeeper as the game neared stoppage time to hand Melissa Andreatta her first win in three games as head coach.

It also ends a run of eight outings without a win for Scotland as they prepare to host Switzerland in another friendly on Tuesday.

Andreatta had hinted at a bit of experimentation and the visitors took time to settle after the Australian switched to an unfamiliar back three.

Half-chances were traded, with Weir and opposing midfielder Nakkach both firing well over early on before home full-back Nouhaila Benzina had a header deflect just wide.

However, Scotland capitalised on a crazy couple of minutes from Er-Rmichi just before the break.

The visitors were handed a corner after the goalkeeper was penalised by whistle-happy referee Natacha Konan for taking too long to release the ball.

From Cuthbert's first corner, Er-Rmichi slapped at full-back Nicola Docherty's cross.

And, from the resulting second, the goalkeeper waved at thin air as she tried to reach over a clutch of heads at the front post while the midfielder's wicked in-swinger whizzed over her head into the net.

However, the Atlas Lionesses were the more lively side after the break and, when Docherty made a mess of a clearance after Jenna Clark nodded Jade Nassi's looping header off the line, Nakkach pounced to fire low into the far corner.

It looked like Scotland and their new head coach would be denied a long-awaited win - until that moment of magic from the visitors' Ballon d'Or nominee.

Analysis: Imperfect progress for Andreatta

In her third game in charge, Andreatta promised a "progressive" performance while warning "it's not going to be perfect" - and it certainly was the latter.

The game was stop-start, partly thanks to a heavy, rain-soaked pitch in hot, humid conditions, and partly down to some overzealous refereeing.

In saying that, they were facing a side showing just one change from the one that narrowly lost the Women's Africa Cup of Nations final to Nigeria in their last outing in July.

Although they are 39 places below the 25th-ranked Scots, the hosts had also reached the last 16 of the last World Cup and have since been led by Jorge Vilda, who lifted the trophy that year with his native Spain.

They had also gone nine games without defeat before relinquishing a 2-0 lead to Nigeria in their own backyard.

That had come in front of a feverish full house in Rabat, but this match was switched to the deserted terraces of Casablanca just two days before kick-off in a mysterious move that has never been quite explained.

Both sides struggled to rise above the lack of atmosphere, but Andreatta will see a victory alone as progress after her opening home loss to Austria and draw in the Netherlands, albeit the latter was a creditable result in itself.

With wing-backs Nicola Docherty and Rachel McLauchlan returning to the side along with winger Kirsty Hanson in place of Mia McAulay, Freya Gregory and Sophie Howard, it appeared to be a more conservative Scotland line-up.

However, Andreatta pointed out that it helped her side progress to the final third more often - and create more chances - than of late, while she credited the addition of a set-piece specialist coach for Cuthbert's opener.

The Australian is still waiting for a clean sheet, however, and that will no doubt be high on her next list of targets.

What they said

'It means a lot' - Melissa Andreatta earns first win

Scotland head coach Melissa Andreatta: "It feels very good right now but of course need to download the game and get going again for the next one, but we'll enjoy this moment with the team.

"It means a lot to the players. They've not only been working hard for their country but they've been doing a lot of work with their club. They've come into camp in great condition, really focused and ready to take on board everything we're throwing at them and they did exactly that.

"We still weren't perfect out there, but we got to work on a lot of things we've been doing in training and we've made good progress in some key areas."

Scotland midfielder Erin Cuthbert: "We've been building up a couple of good performances building into this.

"I think conditions didn't really help, among a few other things, but games like this are all about riding it out and trying to get the win. Caz has come up with a lovely individual goal just when we needed her.

"It's just a bit of relief. I felt like we dominated the game without creating a whole load of chances. It might not be pretty, it might not be nice, but we come up with a goal to win it."

Cuthbert on 'super important' Scotland win

What's next?

Scotland return home for Tuesday's friendly against Switzerland at Dunfermline Athletic's East End Park (19:30 GMT) as Morocco host Haiti.

Player of the match

K. MacLean
10.00
14 A. Er-Rabbah
6.00
3 N. Benzina
6.00
7 G. Chebbak
6.00
23 I. El Ghazouani
6.00
20 I. Saoud
6.00
6 É. Nakkach
4.00
19 S. Ouzraoui Diki
4.00
1 K. Er-Rmichi
3.00
2 Z. Redouani
3.00
17 H. Aït El Haj
3.00
18 S. Mssoudy
3.00
9 I. Jraïdi
3.00
10 N. Badri
2.00
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