THOSE grasping for any sign that Scottish international football is not destined to become stuck in a rut of relentless misery were denied an instant panacea for the pain at Pittodrie. Ricky Sbragia’s under-21 side put up a decent fight against their French counterparts in their second game of the Euro 2017 qualifying campaign but, just like the senior side, the two familiar failings of poor defending and wasteful finishing would prove their undoing. It was ever thus.

The one bright moment of the day came in injury time when Scotland scored a consolation goal through Billy King, an incident that sparked a goalmouth rammy as France tried desperately to hold on to the ball. Once play finally got underway again there was little time for Scotland to push for an equaliser as they fell to their first defeat of the campaign.

By that point they had already lost Ryan Gauld to a red card 15 minutes before the end. The Sporting Lisbon playmaker had spoken the previous day about becoming more assertive on the pitch but presumably he didn’t mean like this as he tried to atone for giving the ball away by hauling down Marcus Coco as France sprang into a counter attack. “He’s a typical forward, giving the ball away in an area he shouldn’t have,” said Sbragia later, resigned to losing Gauld for Tuesday night’s game against Iceland and possibly one other. “It’s one of those ones the referee might just book him but he’s sent him off.”

The young Scots did well to hold their own for long spells against a side of this calibre. France, remarkably, haven’t qualified for the previous five European Championships at this age group and lost their opening game of the current campaign to Iceland. The array of talent on display here, however, suggests a group destined for bigger and better things.

“They are a team of exceptional individuals,” added Sbragia. “They didn’t disappoint us. In the last game against Iceland I didn’t see a weakness in their team. But in generally I was pleased as we stuck at it. Credit to the boys for never giving in.”

Included in the France starting line-up was Kingsley Coman, the forward on loan at Bayern Munich from Juventus for whom he appeared as a substitute in this year’s Champions League final. Given he started out with Paris St-Germain, by the age of 19 he already has a better CV than most players compile throughout an entire career. On this occasion, however, he lasted just 23 minutes, departing injured before he could do any significant damage to Scotland’s prospects.

By that point the Scots were already behind, the goal conceded so unfortunate that it can be immediately added to the recent catalogue of national sporting woes. Substitute Thomas Lemar’s cross from the left fell straight to Stephen Kingsley but, in lashing away his clearance, the Crewe Alexandra defender could only smack it into team-mate Stuart Findlay from close range, the ball then bobbling over the line in tragi-comic fashion. How very Scottish.

France, unsurprisingly, continued to stroke the ball around nonchalantly but Scotland had moments of their own, too. Sam Nicholson had an effort snuffed out after being played in by Cummings, while Gauld was unfortunate – that word again – to hit the bar after being set up by the indefatigable McGinn.

Corentin Tolisso probably should have been sent off for catching McGinn in the face late in the first half – the Italian referee was lenient on this occasion and only showed yellow – and the Olympique Lyonnais player made full use of the reprieve by putting the French two ahead after 53 minutes. It was a fine finish from a tight angle but only made possible by the poverty of the Scottish defending that preceded it, with Hearts’ Callum Paterson, in particularly, hardly covering himself in glory.

Any prospect of a Scotland comeback was effectively ended by Gauld’s red card, the player giving the ball away to Tolisso and then bringing down Coco as France pressed for a third goal. A yellow may have sufficed but the referee on this occasion did not hesitate to flourish a red. It has been one of those weeks for Scottish football.