"Goals change games," says Scotland's match winner Kenny McLaren after 2-1 win against Norway
Jun 18, 2023
Glasgow [Scotland], June 18 : A football game is not over until the final whistle blow and Scotland practically displayed this in the match against Norway. On Sunday, Scotland defeated Norway 2-1 at the Hampden Park Stadium in the UEFA EURO Qualifiers. After the win, the match-winner for Scotland, Kenny McLean said, "Goals change games and they did for us," as per Sky Sports.
Scotland's two late goals helped them to defeat Norway and cement their chances to feature in the UEFA EURO 2024 competition.
After the game, in the post-match interview, Scotland's Kenny McLean said, "Goals change games and they did for us. We were hanging in at the end. The lads who played 90 minutes out there, I don't know how they did it. I was sitting in the dugout sweating. Just watching it I was knackered," according to Sky Sports.
He further added, "We've worked so hard over the last few weeks, results like this make it worthwhile. We're in a decent position, but we want to be in an even better position. It's quite hard to put into words just now. It's a good feeling, especially being the winner. The lads did so much, and we made the changes and got some momentum after the first goal."
While concluding he said, "The character to come back from that is outstanding. I think we can still do better with the ball. But listen, I'll take that all day," as per Sky Sports.
The first half of the match ended all square as neither team managed to find the back of the net.
In the second half, Norway was awarded a penalty. Star striker, Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot in the 61st minute to give Norwar a 1-0 lead.
As the game approached its end, it looked like Norway would have their first victory in the group, but Scotland's two late goals changed the scenario.
In the 87th minute, a defensive blunder by Norway helped Scotland's Lyndon Dykes to roll the ball past Norway's goalkeeper and level the score at 1-1.
Just after two minutes, Scotland scored their second goal. In the 89th minute of the match, Kenny McLean's curler saw Scotland go 2-1 against Norway.
Norway took nine shots out of which three were on targets. They had 59 per cent of ball possession during the game. Norway completed a total of 543 passes with an accuracy of 86 per cent.
Scotland took five shots out of which three were on targets. Their possession on the ball during the match was 41 per cent. Scotland completed 378 passes with an accuracy of 83 per cent.