Aston Villa teammates Johan Manzambi and John McGinn experienced contrasting evenings as Switzerland swept aside ten-man Scotland 3-0 at Hampden Park.
Manzambi started for the visitors, while McGinn completed a difficult match after Jack Hendry’s early dismissal left Scotland facing an uphill battle.
The anticipated meeting between Villa’s midfielders turned sharply in Switzerland’s favour inside the opening 12 minutes.
Johan Manzambi earns praise at Hampden
The Guardian’s Ewan Murray described Manzambi’s play as “a compelling watch”.
The 20-year-old played 63 minutes before Fabian Rieder replaced him, as recorded in The Times’ match report.
His latest start followed another 63-minute appearance in Switzerland’s opening 3-0 victory over North Macedonia.
For Villa, those successive starts provide useful playing time after Manzambi’s goal and assist helped secure the Premier League win at Tottenham before the break.
Early red card leaves McGinn chasing the game
Hendry brought down Dan Ndoye, with a VAR review changing the initial penalty and yellow card into a free-kick and dismissal.
Ricardo Rodríguez scored from the resulting set-piece. Nico Elvedi and Zeki Amdouni added second-half goals, as detailed by Sky Sports.
McGinn appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty during the first half, but Scotland could not find a route back.
Scotland now travel to North Macedonia on Saturday before hosting Slovenia on Tuesday, 6 October.
That leaves McGinn with two further international fixtures before Villa resume Premier League action against Brentford on 10 October.
Both midfielders face further international commitments before Villa return to club action. Our guide to Villa’s nine-game schedule explains the demanding run awaiting Emery’s squad.
