Scotland vs Portugal: Nations League – live | Nations League

81 mins: Portugal continues to have possession of the ball. The tension at Hampden is now palpable as Scotland's first point of the Nations League season is within their grasp.

79 mins: Cancelo sends a deep cross from the right into the Scottish mixer. Gordon rises highest to pluck the ball from the sky. Every attempt at defense was met with a loud roar from Hampden.

77 mins: The game suddenly turns to basketball as Scotland counterattack and Morgan plays a sweet back pass down the right sideline to send Ralston into the Acres. He frees McTominay in the middle, but flies over the flat cross and McTominay is pushed to the left, where the attack fails. Oh my God. One way or another, it's not happening at all for McTominay tonight.

76 mins: … so despite the Portuguese dominance, McTominay probably had the best two chances of the evening. What a strange game football can be. Then, at the other end, Bernardo Silva forces his way into space on the right and deflects the ball from the baseline, but somehow misses Ronaldo, allowing Gilmour to calmly catch up.

74 mins: Another great chance for McTominay! There is space for Morgan at the bottom right. He crosses for a long time. Adams heads back over the goal instead of going towards the goal. Not the worst decision as McTominay tries to shoot from the penalty spot but somehow the ball rises up and Scotland's top scorer gets a blow into the fresh air.

73 mins: Robertson makes a sliding tackle and completely misses both the ball and the player. Mendes manages to steal away with the ball and cross, but fortunately for Scotland and the embarrassed captain, the ball goes out of bounds and results in a goal kick. “This now reminds me of a typical SPL game, with Portugal as Celtic and Scotland as Ross County or St. Johnstone, for example,” writes Simon McMahon. “The only debate is whether Portugal/Celtic’s winning goal comes just before or just after the 90-minute mark.”

71 mins: Gilmour's poor back pass almost lets Ronaldo through. Gordon rushes to the edge of his penalty area to outwit him and save his teammates blushes.

69 mins: In Warsaw it is now 3:3, Poland equalizes against Croatia through Sebastian Szymański. It's not good news for Scotland as they dream of avoiding automatic relegation from League A, but it's not a hope killer either.

67 mins: Scotland is making two changes. Doak – the first 18-year-old to start consecutive games for the Scots since Paul McStay in 1983 – and Christie make way for Morgan and Gauld.

66 mins: McTominay works hard on the right and wins Scotland's first corner of the game. Robertson swings it into the six-yard box. Hanley gets too close to Costa and a free kick is given.

65 minutes: McLean dribbles out of his own penalty area and tries to break. He is cynically caught from behind by João Cancelo, but the Portuguese player misses the mark. The referee feels generous.

64 mins: Portugal is starting to assert itself again. The second half was similar to the first.

63 mins: McLean overdoes it in the center circle and gifts the ball to Fernandes, who dribbles hard down the inside-right channel before cutting inside. He has options in the box, but gets caught between the shot and the cross and ends up doing neither. McLean breathes a little easier.

61 mins: Portugal make a triple change, bringing in João Palhinha, Jota and the lively Conceição and sending on Bernardo Silva, Rafael Leão and Rúben Neves.

60 minutes: Adams is thrown to the ground and falls on the ball. There is a small argument with Dias. The referee trots over to remind them both that they are grown men. In the meantime, here are some existential musings from Justin Kavanagh: “Poor Scott McTominay, he escapes a relegation battle at club level to join a top team in Italy, only to find himself in another relegation battle at international level.” He is the one modern embodiment of the footballing Scots' ability to free despair from the jaws of happiness. I make this observation after spending a wonderful morning at the Scottish Football Museum this week, asking if they offer therapy for the poor people (thanks Peter!) who work there and have all those “so close” moments rolled into one Watch video loop. All day long. Daily!”

58 mins: Conceição takes a corner on the right. Fernandes hits a strange ball that hits the near post and shoots it for a goal kick. I'm not sure whether Gordon knew what was happening or whether the ball had rolled out of the field before clattering against the goal frame. Either way, this put a few hearts in their mouths.

57 mins: Souttar sends McTominay into space. McTominay beats Christie on the edge of the D, but Christie can neither shoot the ball nor move it far left to Robertson.

55 minutes: So far, Portugal has had 67 percent of the ball possession. And now they have the ball in the net for the first time, but only after Mendes dribbled the ball well out of the pitch to the left and knocked the ball back, allowing Ronaldo to shoot the ball into the goal. No celebration. Ronaldo knew the score.

53 mins: Doak and Robertson combine nicely on the left, with the latter hitting a cross to Adams, who is inches away from getting his head to the ball six yards away. Maybe it brushed his eyebrows, it was so close. But the ball flies towards the goal kick.

51 mins: Robertson's long free-kick is dangerous and forces Costa to hit clear in a panic. But then the whistle blows because there was too much Scottish pushing. Portugal goes straight up the other side and almost scores. Conceição exchanges passes with Ronaldo in the middle before shooting across from the edge of the penalty area. He should have at least worked with Gordon. Somewhere in the multiverse, Portugal took a 2-0 lead in no time.

50 minutes: Doak drops a shoulder to power his way down the inside left channel at speed and is chopped down by the dangling leg of João Palhinha, who goes offside. A free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Portuguese penalty area.

48 minutes: Robertson misses a pass in midfield, allowing his Liverpool teammate Jota to break down the left side. Jota saves the ball for Ronaldo, who is on the penalty spot. Ronaldo heads over the crossbar. Nowhere near. What an opportunity that was. Ronaldo looks pained as best he could. The net should have stood out and not his disbelieving eyes.

47 mins: Everything a bit shabby. Neither team is getting back up to speed yet.

Portugal starts the second half. No changes.

Halftime commercial break. Register now! Register now! Register now? Register now!

HALFTIME: Poland – Croatia 2:3. No goals at Hampden, but things were different in Warsaw. Piotr Zieliński gave the hosts the lead in the fifth minute, but Croatia hit back midway through the half with three goals in seven minutes thanks to Borna Sosa, Petar Sučić and Martin Baturina. All good news for Scotland, who desperately need a Croatia win tonight if they are to have a realistic chance of avoiding automatic relegation from League A… but Poland reduced their deficit just before half-time through Nicola Zalewski, so that's all is in limbo again. As things currently stand, Group A1 looks like this.

1. Portugal P3 W3 D1 L0 F7 A3 points 10

2. Croatia P3 S3 D0 N1 F7 A5 points 9

3. Poland P3 S1 D0 L3 F6 A9 points 3

4. Scotland P3 W0 D1 L3 F4 A7 points 1

HALF-TIME: Scotland – Portugal 0-0

43 mins: Conceição pushes Cancelo into the open on the right. Cancelo hits a cross from the baseline. Ronaldo lurks, but Gordon half clears. Vitinha hits the falling ball on the edge of the D and hits it over. Scotland could do with hearing the half-time whistle.

41 mins: …but Portugal countered straight away against Scotland when Ronaldo fired a wild effort from distance miles over the crossbar. Hampden celebrates by switching back to panto mode.

40 minutes: Conceição in Acres bottom right. He has options in the middle or could shoot himself, but tries a strange cut to… well, who? Adams intercepts and clears.

38 minutes: Scotland get their pressing going and Portugal hand the ball to McLean, who tries to hit Doak with a cross from right to left but seriously overdoes it. A little better from the hosts.

37 mins: …and you might think that there's no real reason for Portugal to claim things it doesn't deserve, because it's at the top and an opening goal is certainly only a matter of time. They attack Scotland from all sides, with Conceição almost unplayable.

35 minutes: Hanley gets the ball rolling very slowly back to the Scottish penalty area. Gordon manages to get his way down the line just in time. Fernandes shouts and suggests that Gordon has handled the ball from inside the box, but that's clearly not the case and he's really trying.

34 mins: Conceição is an absolute threat on the right. Another cross, this time from Ronaldo, whose header triggers a quick game of pinball. Scotland, of course. Ronaldo calls for a penalty for handball, but comes in and comes out again.