North Macedonia 1-1 England (20 Nov, 2023) Game Analysis،
England suffered a frustrating conclusion to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign as they were held to a 1-1 draw by North Macedonia in Group C on Monday.
While qualification had long been assured and a draw was all that was needed to seal a seeded place for next year’s final, England were trailing until Enis Bardhi’s follow-up in the 41st minute after his penalty was saved.
Gareth Southgate’s group winners monopolized possession but lacked fluidity and invention against the stubborn hosts and needed a Jani Atanasov own goal to put them level on the hour mark. game.
Jack Grealish had already had a goal ruled out for offside while teenager Rico Lewis had a debut he won’t forget after being harshly penalized for North Macedonia’s penalty.
England finished the calendar year unbeaten, albeit in rather disappointing fashion, topping their group with 20 points from eight games, with North Macedonia fourth on eight points.
After a lackluster victory against Malta on Friday, England would have wanted to set a milestone with a dazzling performance in Skopje against a team beaten 7-0 at home.
But they got bogged down and the only real positive was that they will be in the seed pot for the Euro 2024 draw.
Southgate made six changes from the side which started in Friday’s 2-0 home win over Malta, with Ollie Watkins having the chance to impress in place of the rested Harry Kane, but he failed only 11 touches before being replaced because England lacked creativity.
They enjoyed 82% possession in the first half but were trailing at the break after Lewis, the day before his 19th birthday, was harshly judged for conceding a penalty.
The Manchester City full-back headed a bouncing ball away but inadvertently caught Bojan Miovski in the face, prompting a VAR check which ultimately saw Slovak referee Filip Glova award a spot-kick after checking the side monitor ground.
Jordan Pickford saved Bardhi’s effort but the rebound fell to Bardhi who made no mistake in the second attempt.
It was difficult for Lewis, although England had some luck earlier when Harry Maguire teed up Elif Elmas in the box after his sloppy first pass had put his team in difficulty.
Declan Rice fired a shot against the woodwork while Trent Alexander-Arnold produced a superb save from home keeper Stole Dimitriev with a diving effort just before half-time.
Grealish then thought he had equalized from Bukayo Saka’s cross two minutes after the restart, but he was ruled offside after a lengthy VAR check.
It took the introduction of captain Kane off the bench to save England, with the skipper attacking Phil Foden’s cross and the ball coming in through Atanasov.
