17th November, 2023
Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay branded Georgia a “disgrace” following their 2-2 draw in Euro 2024 qualifying.
The Manchester United midfielder scored his seventh goal of the qualifying campaign in Tbilisi but was left disappointed with the hosts’ behaviour towards the referee.
A disjointed game saw 32 fouls committed and six yellow cards handed out — as well as a melee between both sets of players in each half.
McTominay, 26, told Viaplay after the game: “Every game at this level is big, and obviously they have got some really, really good footballers.
“But tonight I thought the way they were acting was a disgrace in terms of provoking the referee as well.
“Anyway, that’s football and that’s sometimes the way it goes. We have to keep our heads but it’s difficult.
“There’s some disappointed people in the dressing room but I feel like it’s something we can build on after coming back twice.
“They should do something about people pretending that they’re injured when they’re not.
“It’s a difficult one to call but rolling around, crying like babies all afternoon is not football.
“For us we just wanted to get on with the game and play and do our best. Whereas the other side was provoking the referee a lot.”
The Tartan Army, who have already secured Euro 2024 qualification, looked to be heading for a shock defeat following strikes from Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia either side of McTominay’s goal.
But Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland headed home in stoppage time to rescue a point for Steve Clarke’s men in their penultimate game of the campaign.
Given the stoppages in the game, manager Clarke was delighted to see Scotland take advantage of the eight minutes that were added on.
The 60-year-old said: “That’s one of the challenges when you come here, you know they will do everything they can to get a positive result.
“You have to react to that. We have to make sure we control ourselves and don’t get involved, don’t encourage any sort of shenanigans.
“We just kept going, kept plugging away, we knew there was going to be extra time because now they have a better handle on time wasted, and it was nice to score in injury time.”