Scotland's first home match under head coach Sebastien Pocognoli ended in a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Switzerland at Hampden Park, with Jack Hendry's early red card proving too much for the hosts to overcome in UEFA Nations League Group B1.

Red card chaos hands Swiss early control

The evening unravelled inside 11 minutes. Hendry was roasted for pace by Nottingham Forest winger Dan Ndoye and clumsily hauled the striker down, prompting Serbian referee Nenad Minakovic to initially award a penalty and show only a yellow card. But after a period of confusion around the national stadium, VAR intervened — the challenge was judged to have occurred outside the box, and the decision was corrected to a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Switzerland made the advantage count almost immediately. Former AC Milan full-back Ricardo Rodriguez carefully curled the resulting free-kick into the top-left corner from the edge of the box, beating Angus Gunn on his side of the goal in the 12th minute.

Scotland fight valiantly, but Swiss pull clear after the break

Scotland responded well and fought valiantly despite their numerical disadvantage. Kieron Bowie was sacrificed as early as the 13th minute, with Stephen Welsh brought on to shore up the defence, while Oli McBurnie battled impressively as a lone striker and caused problems for the Swiss defence. John McGinn protested that he was being held as a corner was curled in, only for play to continue, and McBurnie was left aggrieved when he was clipped as he drove into the box with no free-kick given. Pocognoli himself picked up a booking in first-half stoppage time as his frustration at some of the refereeing decisions boiled over.

The hosts were eventually foiled early in the second half when Ndoye's cross picked out Nico Elvedi, who swept the ball into the far corner at the near post in the 55th minute to double Switzerland's lead — to groans around Hampden. Burnley forward Zeki Amdouni then completed the scoring in the 82nd minute by stepping onto Ndoye's cutback and lashing the ball past Gunn, who had made good saves either side of half-time to deny Ndoye but was beaten by power again for the third goal.

How Scotland's players rated

• Angus Gunn — 4: Beaten on his side of the goal by Ricardo Rodriguez's powerful free-kick for the opener. Good saves either side of half-time to deny Ndoye, but beaten by power again for Zeki Amdouni's third.
• Jack Hendry — 2: Roasted for pace by Dan Ndoye and clumsily brought the striker down to earn a deserved red card, leaving Scotland down to 10 early on.
• Luis Binks — 5: The Brondby defender's first act was a rash late tackle. Slow to close down Ndoye and prevent the cross that set up Elvedi's second, but otherwise did not look out of place.
• Scott McKenna — 6: The majority of the Swiss threats came from wide but the defender dealt with most of what came his way.
• Nathan Patterson — 5: Had his hands full with the pacy Ndoye down Switzerland's left. Struggled to make any impression as an attacking force.
• Andy Robertson — 6: His usual willingness to get up and down the left flank yielded little reward on his 99th Scotland appearance.
• Lewis Ferguson — 5: Made a few timely interventions on the edge of his own box, but saw little of the ball as the Swiss midfield took firm control.
• Billy Gilmour — 5: Looked most likely to make something happen for Scotland in the early stages but faded as the Swiss took control and was hooked before the hour mark.
• John McGinn — 5: Struggled to influence the game in the way we know he can. Scotland need to find a way to get him into the positions where he can do some damage.
• Kieron Bowie — 5: Sacrificed early for Stephen Welsh following Hendry's red card.
• Oli McBurnie — 7: Battled impressively as a lone striker after Bowie's departure and caused problems for the Swiss defence.

Substitutes

• Stephen Welsh (for Bowie, 13') — 6: Brought on to shore up the defence after Hendry's red card and played his part in steadying the ship before Switzerland doubled their lead.
• Ryan Christie (for Gilmour, 59') — 5: Got half an hour but made little impression.
• Ben Gannon-Doak (for Patterson, 59') — 5: Spent most of his time chasing back towards his own goal.
• Robbie Ure (for McBurnie, 59') — 5: Got no service to work with.
• Josh Doig (for Robertson, 74') — 5: Introduced when the Swiss had all but killed off the game.

Subs not used: Scott Bain, Liam Kelly, Aaron Hickey, Luke Graham, Lennon Miller, Josh McPake, Kristi Montgomery.

Pocognoli still searching for first win

It is now two matches without victory for Pocognoli since taking charge, and the schedule offers little respite as Scotland remain in search of their first win in Nations League B1.

• October 3 — North Macedonia (A), 7.45pm
• October 6 — Slovenia (H), 7.45pm
• November 13 — North Macedonia (H), 7.45pm
• November 16 — Switzerland (A), 7.45pm