This was just how Andy Robertson had intended to celebrate becoming only the second Scotland player in history to make 100 appearances.
Robertson captained the national team to a badly-needed but richly-deserved victory – the first of Sebastien Pocognoli’s reign as manager – in the Nations League match against North Macedonia in the National Arena Todor Proeski tonight.
Kieron Bowie opened the scoring in the first half of a match the visitors dominated from start to finish and John McGinn secured the three points with a well-taken second half penalty.
But the evening was all about Robertson. The Spurs defender, who should overtake Sir Kenny Dalglish as his homeland’s most capped footballer in November, rightly milked the acclaim of the Tartan Army following the final whistle.
Here are five talking points from the Group B1 triumph in Skopje.
Captain Fantastic!
Robertson set the tone for Scotland. He had a powerful and goal-bound left-footed piledriver palmed away by a fully outstretched Stole Dimitrievski in just the fifth minute.
Seeing their skipper on the front foot and in the faces of their rivals visibly lifted every player in a dark blue jersey.
The left-wing back continued in exactly the same positive fashion. He burst forward and got on the end of a magnificent crossfield diagonal from McGinn after that and fired just wide. He then tried his luck from distance and saw his ambitious attempt go over the crossbar.
It is often unfairly suggested the former Queen’s Park, Dundee United, Hull City and Liverpool man struggles to be as impactful for his country as he is for his club sides.
However, he led by example, as he invariably has during the past 12 years, against North Macedonia.
Rocket man
Pocognoli had been forced to remove Sassuolo striker Bowie from the field early on against Switzerland at Hampden on Tuesday night after centre-half Jack Hendry had been red carded. It was a sad way for the forward’s first start for the national team to end.
But the former Raith Rovers and Hibernian man was handed another chance to show what he could do and he grasped the opportunity with both hands by breaking the deadlock in the seventh minute with his first international goal.
He received the ball just outside the Macedonia area after good work by McGinn and Billy Gilmour behind him, took a couple of touches and then unleashed an absolute rocket beyond Dimitrievski and into the bottom right corner. It was a moment he will remember forever.
It was the first time Scotland had scored since McGinn netted his deflected goal against Haiti in the World Cup in Boston in June and meant they avoided an unwanted record - five games without hitting the target and their longest barren run up front ever.
Going to the dogs
Proceedings were held up momentarily after the opener when a dog ran onto the pitch. The perplexed pooch was eventually led away by a member of the ground staff and play resumed. But Macedonia continued to lack bite.
Their opponents dominated possession and had numerous opportunities to increase their lead. Bowie was played through by Luis Binks and should have done better, Gannon-Doak went close on a couple of occasions and Robertson got himself into a dangerous area.
There remains, despite Bowie opening his account in such fine fashion and McGinn making no mistake from 12 yards, room for improvement in the final third.
They could and really should have killed mediocre adversaries, whose manager Goce Sedloski made a double substitution after half an hour, off before half-time. Their inability to do so left them vulnerable to a sucker punch.
Still, the new system worked well. Angus Gunn, who retained his place in goals despite the criticism he came in for after the Switzerland reverse, was not tested. They had 13 shots in the opening 45 minutes.
The travelling supporters showed their appreciation of what they were witnessing by chanting Pocognoli’s name for the first time in his brief tenure.
Gannon-Doak chance
The 3-5-2 formation which Pocognoli introduced against Slovenia in Ljubljana last week did not appear to offer Tartan Army favourite Gannon-Doak much of a chance to get in the starting line-up.
But the Bournemouth winger got, possibly due to the limited quality of the home team, the nod. Could he justify his selection and give his coach some food for thought?
He worked hard both defensively and offensively and had some good moments. But he still needs to add a cutting edge to his play.
He should have scored after being sent through on goal by McGinn early in the second half. That said, he recovered and won a penalty that was overturned by referee Francois Letexier after a VAR check.
It is easy to forget the former Celtic and Liverpool kid is still just 20. But this was his 20th cap. He has to start making his presence felt more to feature going forward. His deliveries continue to leave much to be desired.
Pitch battle
Murat Yakin, the Switzerland manager, took a clump of grass from the pitch at the National Arena Todor Proeski to his post-match press conference after his side’s 3-0 win over North Macedonia last Saturday to illustrate how poor the playing surface was.
Yakin also warned his Scotland counterpart Pocognoli how bad the underfoot conditions would be in Skopje after his charges had eased to a 3-0 triumph over their hosts at Hampden on Tuesday night.
Much was made about how woefully the Macedonians had been performing in the build-up to this encounter. But there was another slightly alarming statistic which should have made the Scots wary.
The loss last weekend was the first they had suffered on their own (very long) turf since June 2023 when Ukraine prevailed 3-2 in a Euro 2024 qualifier. Italy, Belgium, England and Wales have all failed to prevail at the venue during the past three-and-a-half years.
The locals showed their unhappiness at recent displays by staying away in large numbers. But it was easy to see why so many good international sides have struggled when the action commenced. Scotland deserve credit for coping so well. Especially after Scott McKenna was sent off late on for a foul on Agon Elezi.
The red card made the final minutes unnecessarily fraught. But Poicognoli sent on former Dundee centre-half Luke Graham for his debut and a clean sheet was ultimately kept for the second time in three games.
Before he left the field, McKenna had hit the post with a header at a corner and Bowie got in a follow-up shot. A needlessly long VAR check showed that Rangers striker Bojan Miovski had handled the ball on the line. McGinn stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way.
The former Hibs player is now level with Easter Road legend Lawrie Reilly in the all-time Scotland scoring charts with 22 – but Robertson was the great whose name the supporters were chanting at the end of a hugely satisfying 90 minutes.
