Nottingham Forest star Scott McKenna scored his first Scotland goal during Tuesday’s win but it was a bizarre incident afterwards that left a sour taste.
Take nothing away from the Reds warrior. His goal handed Scotland a 2-0 half-time lead and it will surely be a proud moment for the defender.
As McKenna celebrated, Armenia protested and defender Arman Hovhannisyan took matters into his own hands.
With the referee awarding the goal, he picked up a water bottle and launched it in the direction of the assistant referee.
Bizarrely the incident didn’t come with any repercussion for the Armenian defender, despite the use of VAR.
Former Forest defender Alan Hutton was perplexed. He spoke of his disgust that the player had not received a card following his moment of madness.
It’s something that seems unprecedented on a football pitch and offers a timely reminder that respect towards officials is at an all-time low.
Hovhannisyan plays his club football for Armenian outfit FC Gandzasar and it’s hard to imagine this is how they treat referees in his homeland.
For McKenna, it was a night he will saviour. It’s been a frustrating time of things for the 25-year-old on the international stage.
He’s largely a peripheral figure when it comes to important matches but Steve Clarke did hand him a chance here.
His Forest form has been brilliant over the last two seasons. As a result, he will hope that Premier League football can help him become a regular on the international stage.
McKenna scores but bizarre incident in Scotland clash will grab the headlines
McKenna won’t care one jot that this has happened. He’s got his first international goal and nothing will take that away from him.
It’s an unsavoury incident though and hopefully, some punishment will be coming in the direction of the Armenian defender.
This bizarre incident after the Scotland goal simply has to be stamped out of the game.
For McKenna, he must truly be on cloud nine. Just over a week since those wild celebrations at Wembley whilst wearing the Garibaldi, he’s now netted for Scotland.
He won’t want to stop there, however. The talented defender will want to test himself in the Premier League and if he does that Clarke can’t keep him out of his Scotland team.
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