Soccer-Patterson prominent as Scotland seal World Cup playoff berth

Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon made a superb stop to deny Moldova captain Artur Ionita's header and it was the visitors who took the lead with a superbly worked goal in the 38th minute. Patterson collected the ball from John McGinn just inside the box and the full back rifled his shot into the net with his left foot, much to the relief of the vocal travelling support.

Right back Nathan Patterson scored his first goal for Scotland and laid on another for Che Adams in a 2-0 victory over Moldova at the Zimbru Stadium that booked the visitors a place in the World Cup playoffs in March. Patterson, 20, broke the deadlock just before halftime, and then turned provider for Adams midway through the second period as Scotland eased to a victory that ensures second place in their qualification Group F.

They have 20 points from nine matches and cannot be caught. Nor can they overtake pool winners Denmark, who travel to Glasgow for their final qualifier on Monday, which will now be a dead rubber for both teams. Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon made a superb stop to deny Moldova captain Artur Ionita's header and it was the visitors who took the lead with a superbly worked goal in the 38th minute.

Patterson collected the ball from John McGinn just inside the box and the full back rifled his shot into the net with his left foot, much to the relief of the vocal travelling support. He then turned provider for the visitors’ second on 65 minutes, again taking a neat pass from McGinn and his low cross to the back post allowed Adams to turn the ball into the net.

Not everything went the youngster’s way on the night though, his handball gave Moldova’s Vadim Rata the chance to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, but Gordon kept his clean sheet in tact with a save.

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