Match ends, Scotland 1, Qatar 0.
ScotlandScotland1QatarQatar0
Scotland warmed up for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland with a comfortable win over Qatar thanks to a Matt Ritchie strike.
Ritchie's first international goal late in the first half proved to be the difference between the sides.
But, in a match played at a tempo befitting the friendly billing, Scotland goalkeepers David Marshall and Craig Gordon were scarcely tested.
The Scots were, though, able to get a little more sharpness into their legs.
With the game in Dublin little over a week away, perhaps the most satisfying aspect for Scotland manager Gordon Strachan would be the ease with which Charlie Mulgrew came through 90 minutes in the centre of defence having missed most of the previous five months through injury.
Strachan could be tempted to use the versatile Celtic player in the same role in the Aviva Stadium, given the relative paucity of alternatives.
There were also impressive displays from Craig Forsyth and Ritchie, while substitute Charlie Adam produced a couple of passes of tremendous vision and weight, in keeping with his recent excellent form for Stoke City.
As the game progressed and became more fragmented with multiple substitutions on both sides, Scotland's shape and passing became more ragged, but generally Strachan will feel the game served its purpose.
Scotland's choice of opponents may have caused controversy because of their country's human rights record, but the Scotland manager simply required a reasonable test of his side's abilities and that is what Qatar provided.
They perhaps should have won more emphatically, but the goal they did score was an impressive strike from the Bournemouth winger.
Steven Naismith powered forward and poked a pass towards James McArthur. Ahmed Yasser intercepted only for the ball to fall nicely into Ritchie's path and, from 20 yards, he drove it low past Amine Lecomte.
That more than made up for his earlier miss, when he'd volleyed wide from a good position.
Had Mulgrew not headed wide from a similarly promising opening, Scotland would have been cruising before the break, with Naismith also unfortunate to have a stoppage-time effort come off the post.
The talismanic Naismith was denied by a brilliant Abdelkarim Hassan challenge shortly after the break and, happily for Scotland, he recovered from a nasty-looking bump to the chest incurred in the same incident.
Further chances fell to Johnny Russell, but the first was well saved, the second badly missed, while another second-half replacement, Leigh Griffiths, was correctly flagged offside as he tapped in late on.
Anything other than a Scotland victory would have been hard to take, with a thunderous free-kick from Hassan Al Haidos, which was safely held by Marshall, and a shot by the same Qatari player, which substitute Gordon turned round the post, the sum total of the threat to Scotland's goal.
The attentions of the Scotland players and management team now turn immediately to the more serious business of Euro 2016 qualifying and that crucial match in Dublin.
Line-ups
Scotland
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1MarshallSubstituted forGordonat 45'minutes
- 2Anya
- 4Greer
- 5Mulgrew
- 3Forsyth
- 8BrownSubstituted forFletcherat 60'minutes
- 10McArthurSubstituted forMorrisonat 45'minutes
- 11Ritchie
- 6MaloneySubstituted forAdamat 60'minutes
- 7ForrestSubstituted forRussellat 74'minutes
- 9NaismithSubstituted forGriffithsat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 12Gordon
- 13Whittaker
- 14Fletcher
- 15Fletcher
- 16Adam
- 17Martin
- 18Robertson
- 19Bannan
- 20Morrison
- 21Samson
- 22Berra
- 23Russell
- 24Griffiths
- 25Reynolds
Qatar
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Lecomte-Addani
- 18AbdullahBooked at 37minsSubstituted forIsmailat 78'minutes
- 6Kasola
- 24Yasser Aziz
- 3Hassan Fadlalla
- 23El SayedBooked at 84mins
- 20Boudiaf
- 11Al HaydosSubstituted forFedailyat 86'minutes
- 8QambarSubstituted forHussainat 66'minutes
- 14HatemSubstituted forAli Mukhtarat 54'minutes
- 27MuntariSubstituted forIlyas Bakurat 78'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Ali
- 4Ali Mukhtar
- 5Siddiq
- 7Muftah
- 9Ismail
- 10Hussain
- 12Mohamed Hassan
- 15Fedaily
- 16Ilyas Bakur
- 17Mohamad
- 19Traore
- 21Sofyan Ahmed Al Abonora
- 22Al Sheeb
- 25El-Sayed
- Referee:
- Sébastien Delferière
- Attendance:
- 14,270
Match Stats
Home TeamScotlandAway TeamQatar
- Possession
- Home52%
- Away48%
- Shots
- Home22
- Away8
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away3
- Corners
- Home10
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home11
- Away13
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Scotland 1, Qatar 0.
Post update
Attempt missed. Charlie Adam (Scotland) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross following a corner.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Amine Lecomte-Addani.
Post update
Attempt missed. Leigh Griffiths (Scotland) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Matt Ritchie.
Post update
Charlie Adam (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Abdulgadir Ilyas Bakur (Qatar).
Post update
Attempt missed. Charlie Adam (Scotland) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Matt Ritchie with a cross following a corner.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Ahmed El Sayed.
Post update
Attempt blocked. James Morrison (Scotland) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Mohammed Kasola.
Post update
Offside, Scotland. Charlie Adam tries a through ball, but Leigh Griffiths is caught offside.
Post update
Attempt missed. Charlie Adam (Scotland) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Matt Ritchie following a corner.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Ahmed Yasser Aziz.
Post update
Attempt missed. Johnny Russell (Scotland) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Leigh Griffiths following a fast break.
Post update
Foul by Johnny Russell (Scotland).
Post update
Hamid Ismail (Qatar) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Attempt missed. James Morrison (Scotland) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Leigh Griffiths.
Substitution
Substitution, Qatar. Moayed Hassan replaces Hasan Al Haydos.
Post update
Matt Ritchie (Scotland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
