SCOTLAND’S evening went from bad to worse as Ryan Porteous was sent off for a crazy challenge on Ilkay Gundogan in their Euro 2024 opener.
The defender lunged in and landed high on Gundogan’s ankle in the box as Scotland tried to stop a wave of German attacks.
Scotland already found themselves two goals down after just 19 minutes after goals from Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala put Germany ahead in front of their home crowd.
But the Scots misery was compounded when Porteous made the rash decision to leap with both feet off the ground to try and stop Barcelona star Gundogan from getting a shot away in the 42nd minute.
The Watford centre-back’s lunge saw him dismissed after a lengthy VAR check.
And to make matters worse, Germany were also handed a penalty.
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Up stepped Arsenal star Kai Havertz who comfortably dispatched past Angus Gunn and put Germany 3-0 up before the half-time whistle had sounded.
Fans couldn’t believe the moment of madness from Porteous and took to social media to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “That might be the worst tackle I have ever seen!”
While another added: “Leg-breaker that. Deserved red.”
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A third labelled the foul as: “Disgusting”.
And a fourth posted: “That’s a ridiculous tackle from Porteous”.
Scotland got away with a penalty scare earlier in the first half too.
Jamal Musiala had gone down on the edge of the box under a sandwiched tackle from Kieran Tierney and Ryan Christie.
But fortunately for Steve Clarke, the VAR ruled that the foul was committed just outside the box and gave a free kick instead of a penalty.
Things didn’t get much better in the second half either as Germany added a fourth through Niclas Fullkrug.
There were pockets of cheers from the travelling Tartan Army support in the 87th minute when Antonio Rudiger headed into his own net to make it 4-1.
But that excitement was short lived when Emre Can went back up the other end in added time and secured a 5-1 victory for Germany in their home opener.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
