Scotland gave France an early fright before suffering a chastening 4-1 loss to their classy hosts in Lille. The Scots went into the friendly knowing they had qualified for the 2024 European Championships at the weekend after Spain beat Norway to ensure Steve Clarke’s side a top-two finish in Group A. Clarke took the opportunity to utilise his squad, giving a debut to Liam Kelly among eight changes from last week’s game in Seville and they stunned the home side when midfielder Billy Gilmour guided in the opener after 11 minutes – his first ever senior goal. However, France defender Benjamin Pavard scored twice with headers by way of a rapid response and skipper Kylian Mbappe added a third from the spot before the break. Substitute Kingsley Coman hammered in a fourth in the 70th minute to seal a commanding win for the superior home side. After winning their first five Euro qualifiers, Scotland have lost three games in a row and Clarke will want to get that winning feeling back in the final two qualifiers against Georgia and Norway next month. In addition to Kelly’s introduction to international football in The Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre Mauroy, Clarke also brought in defenders Nathan Patterson, Greg Taylor and Liam Cooper, midfielders Kenny McLean, Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson and striker Che Adams. It was always going to be a tough test against Les Blues, who qualified comfortably for Euro 2024 by winning their first six qualifiers. Boss Didier Deschamps also freshened his side up from the 2-1 win over the Netherlands last Friday. Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann kept their places while Ousmane Dembele and all-time leading scorer Olivier Giroud came back into the side. The kick-off was delayed for around 10 minutes due to the long queues at the stadium amid extra security measures put in place after two Swedish nationals were shot dead in Brussels the previous evening. There was a minute’s silence before the game to commemorate that incident and it was a low-key start to the game on a pitch still showing markings from its use in the Rugby World Cup, before the Scots took an unexpected lead. France defender Eduardo Camavinga cut out a pass from Gilmour inside the box but with a poor touch gave it straight back to the unmarked Brighton midfielder, who curled the ball low past goalkeeper Mike Maignan. However, there was little time for the Tartan Army to enjoy the landmark goal as a Griezmann corner from the left five minutes later was all too easily glanced past Kelly by Inter Milan centre-back Pavard. A refocused France side took control of the game and Mbappe skipped past Jack Hendry before crossing for Pavard again to head past Kelly from close range. The visitors were struggling to get up the pitch and in the 40th minute France were awarded a penalty after referee Tobias Stieler went pitchside at the behest of VAR and judged Cooper had held Giroud inside the penalty area, with Mbappe stepping up to send the penalty past the diving Kelly, who got close but not close enough. The Motherwell keeper did not look great moments later when he fumbled a shot from Dembele but the lurking Mbappe could not capitalise. Hearts keeper Zander Clark replaced Kelly at the start of the second half to make his debut and Jacob Brown and John Souttar would take over from Adams and Cooper. Giroud and Dembele made way for Marcus Thuram and Coman and in the 70th minute the latter thrashed a shot high past Clark after Griezmann had volleyed against the bar. A low drive from Brown in a rare Scotland attack was pushed past the post by Maignan and the corner came to nothing before Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong came on for Gilmour and McLean. Thuram rattled Clark’s crossbar with a drive and at the other Maignan made saves from Armstrong’s volley and Brown’s header but the game was already well gone for Scotland. Read More How Scotland qualified for Euro 2024 – and why Germany will be different England have qualified for Euro 2024 — now it’s about winning it England player ratings as Marcus Rashford shines but Kalvin Phillips struggles in Italy comeback Scotland come back to earth as France recover from early fright Shea Charles dismissed as Northern Ireland lose at home to Slovenia Jordan Henderson has ‘no regrets’ over Saudi Arabia move despite being booed

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Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle will probably need to beat both Paris St Germain and AC Milan to keep their Champions League dream alive. The Magpies went down 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday evening as the Germans completed back-to-back Group F victories over the Premier League side. They will head for Paris later this month having banked just four points from their first four fixtures and knowing anything less than three at the Parc des Princes could prove fatal with Milan due at St James’ Park in December. Asked if they now needed to return from France with at least a point, Howe said: “Yes. It’s difficult to tell at this stage, but we are probably going to have to win our last two games.” Howe was left to reflect on what might have been after a difficult night at Signal Iduna Park as the team he had fashioned from the remnants of his injury-hit squad failed to live up to his expectations. His decision to start 19-year-old full-back Lewis Hall suffered an early setback when he picked up a ninth-minute booking which ultimately prompted his half-time withdrawal in a bid to avoid a second caution, and the Magpies improved, but not enough to make a difference. Asked for his reflections on the performance, Howe said: “Very similar to Dortmund (at home) last month, a frustration on our performance knowing there is more in the tank to give. We’re better than that and can show a better version of ourselves than we did. “I don’t think Dortmund have seen the best Newcastle and that always leaves a feeling of frustration. But we accept it, we’ve delivered it and we have to look to the future now.” Niclas Fullkrug’s 26th-minute strike had sent Dortmund in at the break a goal to the good, and they returned to find a different Newcastle after a reshuffle in which Miguel Almiron and Anthony Gordon belatedly entered the fray. The Magpies should have been back in the game when Tino Livramento presented Joelinton with a seemingly regulation header from close range at 1-0, but the Brazil international contrived to miss the target and his side was made to pay with 11 minutes remaining when the excellent Julian Brandt rounded off a swift counter-attack. Howe said: “The intensity and quality of our usual game was missing. In saying that, we still had our moments and Joelinton’s header is the key moment in the game from our perspective. “It was a really good move and I think he would back himself to score that if the chance came again. But that’s football and that’s one of the things that happens.” I don’t think Dortmund have seen the best Newcastle and that always leaves a feeling of frustration Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe For Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic, the victory was the perfect response to Saturday’s bruising 4-0 Bundesliga defeat by Bayern Munich, although he insisted there is work still to be done. Terzic said: “We’ve managed to win twice against Newcastle, their only two defeats in 13 matches, every time with a clean sheet. “We are very happy, but we know the seven points we have in the group are not enough to go to the round of 16. We need another few steps. “We know what happened on Saturday, we can’t repair that in the Champions League, but what it is about is to take the right lessons, how we dealt with the defeat on Saturday, so I think we can be content with the performance today and now a very important match is awaiting us against Stuttgart.” Read More Jacob Neestrup: Parken atmosphere is 100 times more intense than Old Trafford Casemiro likely to be sidelined until new year FA asks Mikel Arteta and Arsenal for observations after referee comments Tragedy chanting causes ‘unbearable pain’ and must stop – Margaret Aspinall ‘Just ridiculous’ – A closer look at Glenn Maxwell’s remarkable double century Wales’ Sam Costelow out until new year with shoulder and hamstring injuries

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