Eager to impress on the back of two successive defeats, the hosts almost made the perfect start as an inviting free-kick delivery from Andy Robertson on the left flank found an unmarked George Hirst inside the box, but his free header was steered wide of the target when he should have done better.
They were made to pay for this missed opportunity, as Curaçao took the lead after 17 minutes with their very first effort of the match to stun the Tartan Army.
Tahith Chong was allowed plenty of time and space by the Scotland defence to go on a darting run, and the Sheffield United player rounded off the counter-attack with a smart finish that went in off the post to edge the Blue Wave in front.
Drama struck with less than 10 minutes to go before the interval, as Curaçao’s Jürgen Locadia was shown a straight red card following VAR intervention after his elbow caught the face of Aaron Hickey in a reckless move.
Despite that lifeline, there was further concern for the hosts shortly before HT as an injured Billy Gilmour was taken off as a precaution.
Gilmour’s misfortune provided teenage substitute Findlay Curtis with a chance to make a big impact, and he took that opportunity almost instantly with a calm and controlled strike into the bottom corner, levelling the game on the stroke of HT.
Scotland began the second half positively, as Eloy Room was forced into decent saves to deny both Shankland and Ryan Christie in the opening stages following the restart.
However, Room could do nothing about Shankland’s strike from inside the box just before the hour mark to give Scotland the lead with his fifth goal for his nation.
At this stage, the Blue Wave’s performance plummeted and Shankland took full advantage with a lovely finish off the post to extend the hosts’ lead after 64 minutes and increase the Tartan Army’s volume even further inside the stadium.
It remained one-way traffic as Dick Advocaat’s team continued to struggle with a man down, and it was perhaps no surprise that the hosts were awarded a penalty with around 10 minutes left as Curtis was brought down inside the box.
Christie stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake to add a fourth Scottish goal of the afternoon and cap off the match in style.
Scotland will aim to record back-to-back victories next weekend when they play Bolivia in a friendly in the United States, while Curaçao will take on Aruba at home in the Blue Wave’s last friendly before their first-ever World Cup campaign begins.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ryan Christie (Scotland)
