After an opening draw in Ljubljana on Saturday, Sebastien Pocognoli would have been keen for a positive start in his first match in charge at Hampden Park, but he experienced the complete opposite.
A slick Switzerland move released Dan Ndoye behind the home backline and Jack Hendry desperately brought him down.
The initial decision was a penalty, but the foul was confirmed to be outside the box and Hendry was sent off before the situation got even worse with Ricardo Rodriguez sending the ensuing free-kick into the top corner.
In the aftermath, Kieron Bowie was sacrificed just 14 minutes into his first Scotland start so Stephen Welsh could replenish the home defence.
Scotland enjoyed encouraging moves forward despite the major setback, with the best of them seeing Andrew Robertson send an effort over the crossbar.
Switzerland still looked in control and Johan Manzambi often looked capable of making something happen, sending an attempt marginally wide. Zeki Amdouni then fizzed a shot from range straight at Angus Gunn and another wide, while Ndoye forced the Scotland goalkeeper into a save between those efforts.
The visitors remained on top after the restart without initially testing Gunn, as Remo Freuler struck harmlessly wide and Ardon Jashari smashed a shot convincingly over the crossbar.
They eventually partnered the pressure with a clinical touch in the 55th minute, when Nico Elvedi applied a first-time finish to Ndoye’s low cross.
Pocognoli turned to his bench with a triple change on the hour mark, but they still struggled with Ndoye being denied before Fabian Rieder curled an eye-catching effort agonisingly wide.
Having been visibly keen to add to his brace last time out, Amdouni eventually got on the scoresheet in the 82nd minute when his first-time strike had enough power on it to beat Gunn.
That nicely capped off a match that saw Switzerland go an 11th consecutive match without losing inside 90 minutes and retain their lead at the top of Group B1. In contrast, Scotland have one point, no goals and have suffered defeat in three of their last four across all competitions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nico Elvedi (Switzerland)