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Roy Keane dismissed Scotland’s penalty appeal in their 1-0 defeat to Morocco, highlighting that he felt Scott “wanted to go down” on McTominay.
Steve Clarke’s side knew victory would secure a place in the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time, but they were stunned by Ismail Saibari’s strike after just 70 seconds.
John McGinn appealed for a penalty shortly after the restart after being brought down by Neil El Aynaoui, but it was deemed a fair challenge.
There was further controversy over the penalty when Napoli midfielder McTominay faced another questionable challenge on El Ainnou. But, again, the appeal is waved away.
Keane said on ITV: “I don’t think it’s a penalty, he’s looking to go down. It’s a physical game. The referee was giving up a lot in the game, players were going down which would normally be a free-kick. So that was the attitude of the referee throughout the game, especially in the box.”
Scotland boss Steve Clarke said: “Everyone is talking about Scott McTominay (the penalty incident). I actually looked at John McGinn, it was 50-50. Some referees will give it, some won’t. Sometimes VAR will be involved.”
Poll: Should Scotland have had a penalty… or two?
Clark: I wish I could start over!
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Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has reacted to their World Cup defeat to Morocco.
After defeating Haiti in their Group C opener, Clarke’s side only needed a draw against the AFCON champions at the Boston Stadium to secure a place in the knockout stages.
However, Morocco showed why they are ranked sixth in the world, scoring after 70 seconds through Cibari – the first goal Scotland have conceded at a World Cup since returning to the big stage in 28 years.
Scotland can still reach the last 32 if they finish with three points, but a draw against Brazil in Miami next week would significantly increase their chances of appearing in the knockout stages for the first time.
On Morocco’s goal, Clarke said: “I wish we could have started again! We conceded a bad goal, we tried to go forward when you want to track runners at the start of the game. We didn’t defend it well, and that’s why we went 1-0 down.
“I thought in the second half of the first half after the hydration break, we were good. We were good in the game, we had good momentum and in the second half we took it and went right.
“I’m proud of the players but we’re all devastated and disappointed that we didn’t get the results we wanted to continue in this tournament as long as we could.”
