Scotland women 7-1 Faroe Islands women – Martinez Losa’s side cruise to victory

Scotland cruised to victory against the Faroe Islands in their first ever qualifier at Hampden Park to maintain a perfect start to their World Cup bid.

Maria Biskopsto scored a rare goal for the Faroes but Martha Thomas, Jenna Clark, and Claire Emslie sealed a comfortable victory.

Scotland sit second in Group B, behind Spain on goal difference.

A late head injury for Cuthbert was the only sour note as the Chelsea forward had to be taken off on a stretcher in stoppage time.

New head coach Pedro Martinez Losa began his reign on Friday with a 2-0 victory in Hungary, but was looking for a more clinical edge against the nation ranked 95th in the world.

And after a frustrating 18 minutes, Scotland went through the gears as expected in front of a small, but passionate crowd.

Cuthbert got things going with a trademark strike into the top corner off her left foot, having let the ball run across her from a throw-in before lashing home from 25 yards.

Soon after, it was 2-0 as Scotland carved open their visitors. Rachel McLauchlan played a terrific inside ball for Jane Ross, who crossed for Arthur – the only newcomer to the starting XI from the win in Hungary – to nod home.

That was the Aston Villa midfielder’s first international goal, and she had to wait just six minutes for her second as she headed home Rachel Corsie’s hanging cross at the back post.

Crosses were where Scotland got most joy as both full-backs charged forward and combined well with Ross, Cuthbert, Claire Emslie, and Grimshaw.

And it was Grimshaw who capitalised on Nicola Docherty’s delivery from the left to the back post to guide home her first Scotland goal.

Martinez Losa made three changes and went to a back three for the second half, but sloppy defending from a corner allowed Biskopsto to nod in and send the Faroes players into joyful celebration, having only scored twice across the entirety of their last two qualifying campaigns.

It took 10 minutes for Scotland to settle into their new shape and substitute Thomas’ fine turn and shot restored calm as they continued to get joy out wide through Emslie.

Further chances came and went, before substitute defender Clark trapped Cuthbert’s fine delivery before sliding the ball home to make it a debut to remember.

And Emslie capped a fine individual performance by curling a delightful free kick into the top corner with six minutes remaining.

Player of the match – Erin Cuthbert

What did we learn?

It’s hard to know what to make of a victory, even a convincing one, against the Faroe Islands. What was encouraging, though, was the intensity which Scotland managed to maintain, minus a sleepy start to the second period.

Rangers full-back McLauchlan was relentless down the right flank in the first half before switching to right centre-back, Cuthbert dropped deep constantly to link the play and looked back to her best, and the team generally looked confident.

The manager even had the luxury of making three half-time changes to try a different set-up. It looked to unsettle Scotland initially, but they regained their poise.

Tougher tests lie ahead, including an impressive Spain side who thumped Hungary in the other match in Group B, but the Martinez Losa tenure has got off to a solid start.

What’s next?

Scotland are back at Hampden on 22 October (19:35 BST) to face Hungary again and will look to build on their promising start under Martinez Losa.