Scotland squandered a half-time lead to lose 2-1 to Israel in their Nations League match in Haifa.

Charlie Mulgrew’s penalty put Scotland ahead but there was no surprise when Isreal levelled, Dor Peretz making up for conceding the spot-kick to score with a close-range finish.

Scotland were reduced to 10 men in the 61st minute when John Souttar was sent off for a second yellow card, which Alex McLeish described as “a really harsh decision by the referee”. Kieran Tierney then turned a cross from Beram Kayal past Allan McGregor with 16 minutes left.

Scotland enjoyed a 2-0 win against Albania in their opening game at Hampden Park last month but will be looking for two wins against Albania and Israel next month to revive their play-off hopes.

Israel had won only one of their past 10 games but looked the more dangerous early on and in the eighth minute Mounes Dabour headed over the bar after a Bibres Natcho corner.

Scotland, unchanged from the Albania match, offered encouragement to the home side and McGregor had to make a save at point-blank range from a Peretz header. But the home side were stunned when the referee judged Peretz to have barged Naismith inside the box after the striker latched on to an Andy Robertson pass, and Mulgrew crashed the penalty past Ariel Harush.

Israel came back strongly and the striker Ben Sahar skied a chance over the bar before McGregor had to make a save from a Kayal drive, with the Rangers keeper then watching a long‑distance effort from Dabour just clear the crossbar.

The Scots were toiling. In the 39th minute Sahar sent an angled-drive against the post after escaping from Robertson and Stephen O’Donnell cleared the danger when the ball was returned across goal. The first half finished with McGregor parrying a powerful volley from Dabour.

The Aberdeen defender Scott McKenna replaced Mulgrew for the start of the second half but Scotland continued to struggle. The equaliser came when Taleb Tawatha picked out Peretz who got the better of Robertson before poking the ball into the far corner of the net from eight yards.

Things got worse for Scotland when Souttar, booked in the first half for a foul on Dabour, picked up a second yellow for catching the same man in the face with his hand at the edge of the box.

McLeish told Sky Sports News: “I thought it was a really harsh decision by the referee. He was about 40 yards away from it. He wasn’t close to it at all. I don’t know if he’s had a signal from somebody else.

“John has put his arm up just to protect himself, just as you do, and I thought Dabour milked it. The striker is clever. We did say before the game that Dabour was quite a wily striker. He’s stuck his foot in front of John and it’s looked like John’s kicked him but he’s actually impeded John. It’s only when you see these things in analysis that you can see the real thing.”

McGregor saved Kayal’s free-kick and minutes later Tawatha hit the bar from inside the six-yard box but there was nothing the keeper could do when Tierney sliced a Kayal cross past him.

Scotland pushed for an equaliser. Callum McGregor stung the palms of Harush with a 25-yard drive but seconds later his goalkeeping namesake made yet another save, this time from the substitute Dia Saba and the home side saw the game out.