Little hits five in

Striker goes nap as Kerr’s team put eight past Cypriots

Kim Little’s five goals ensured a difficult week for Scotland’s women ended on a positive note with a 8-0 trouncing of Cyprus at Easter Road last night.

The build-up to this Euro 2021 qualifier had been dominated by talk of the squad’s ill-tempered World Cup debrief, with players and head coach Shelley Kerr having to field awkward questions about the manner of the management team’s post-mortem.

Some players had reportedly been considering their future on the back of that Paris meeting and while a poor Cyprus side offered little threat, Scotland dispatched their opponents with relative ease.

Little was superb throughout and merited the match ball, while Claire Emslie, Jane Ross and Dunfermline’s Caroline Weir also found the net in front of a crowd of 6,206, Scotland’s secondhighest attendance.

Scotland, as expected, dominated possession, with the white shirts of Cyprus content to retreat into their own half and batten down the hatches. Claire Emslie’s opener after 11 minutes effectively rendered that gameplan moot, heading in from Lisa Evans’ cross to cull any pre-match tension.

While the result would still need to be secured, the manner of the performance would likely be the most important takeaway. Would Scotland play with a cohesiveness and fluidity that had made them an attractive prospect in the buildup to the World Cup, or would there be lingering frustrations after a fortnight of unwanted headlines?

For much of the first half the answer was the former. Mintlaw’s Kim Little, now of Arsenal, schemed and roamed in the space Cyprus were affording her, playing essentially as a second striker up with Jane Ross.