Slovenia rally to beat Scotland as Robertson questions team's intensity

Slovenia recovered from a half-time deficit to beat Scotland 2-1 at Hampden Park on Tuesday, leaving Sebastien Pocognoli still seeking his first home victory as national team coach. BBC Sport reported that Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm scored after the break to overturn Ryan Christie’s opener in the Nations League meeting.

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Christie had put Scotland ahead with a close-range flick following a cross from Ben Gannon-Doak. Before kick-off, the evening had included a presentation recognising Andy Robertson’s 100th international appearance, with former Scotland managers Gordon Strachan, Alex McLeish and Steve Clarke joining the occasion. The hosts took their lead into the interval but could not protect it.

Sturm supplied the pass for Matko to beat goalkeeper Angus Gunn for the equaliser. The pair then exchanged roles: Matko advanced on the right and found Sturm to finish the move that put Slovenia ahead. Scotland introduced Hearts winger Josh McPake for his debut and sought a way back into the game, but penalty appeals were dismissed and the visitors retained their advantage.

Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland afterwards, Robertson criticised the performance across the team and said Scotland had failed to reproduce the positives from Saturday’s victory in North Macedonia. He said that result had created optimism about the side’s progress, only for the home defeat to interrupt it. The captain also acknowledged that Slovenia had caused problems Scotland now needed to examine.

Robertson raised tiredness as a possible factor rather than an established explanation, pointing out that Slovenia had played the same number of games during the camp. In his assessment, the visitors had shown greater freshness and desire. His criticism centred on Scotland losing the physical contest, something he distinguished from mistakes or a shortfall in technical quality.

Pocognoli also accepted that Scotland had not merited victory. According to the BBC’s reaction report, he identified shortcomings in their use of possession and their strength in individual contests. The coach said each match was providing information about his team and that Scotland needed to learn from the defeat as they continued the process he was trying to establish.