North Macedonia 1-1 England: Three Lions’ successful Euro qualifying campaign ends on a flat note as they rely on own goal to cancel out controversial opener

Gareth Southgate reacted with disdain on Monday when asked about the prospect of England slowing down here in Skopje.

You can only imagine how he felt about this. Southgate needed the cavalry because England found itself in a rather embarrassing hole.

They delivered to some extent: Harry Kane was on the pitch for 40 seconds before forcing Jani Atanasov past his own goalkeeper to forget England’s equalizer after a first-half break.

But this was far from enough for England, who finished their qualifying campaign unbeaten.

With England’s path to Euro 2024 as group winners already assured, there was little danger of inspiring the players here.

But if Southgate remains true to his word, he will not accept that as an excuse after this uninspiring display.

Tasteless at best. They will have to do a much better job if they want to cut down trees in Germany next summer.

Before kick-off, the headline news was Kyle Walker’s promotion to captain. Completely deserved.

If anyone typifies the attitude Southgate demands, it is Walker. From the brink of international retirement to one of England’s most important players and captain. That’s a turnaround.

The sight of the illuminous bracelet wrapped proudly around Walker’s left arm meant Harry Kane was rested in a competitive international for the first time since 2021.

It was also a poignant evening for Rico Lewis, Manchester City’s fearless academy graduate, who was handed his full England debut in the left-back/midfield hybrid role that has become all the rage these days.

Lewis squandered England’s first chance in the fourth minute, firing over the bar after the home side made a blunder clearing a corner.

Much of the first half looked like a training session for attack versus defense. England probed and held the ball efficiently as they tried to break through North Macedonia’s crowded defence.

England came close twice within a minute; Declan Rice’s first effort from the edge of the box hit Stole Dimitrievski’s post in the 14th minute before Ollie Watkins, in the side in place of Kane, horribly miscued a free header from Phil Foden’s cross.

But despite their dominance in possession, England’s start lacked guts and intention – the kind of shortcomings Southgate insisted he would not accept before kick-off.

Harry Maguire’s terrible mistake in the 22nd minute almost gave North Macedonia a shock lead, but Eljif Elmas failed to capitalize before England survived a nerve-wracking penalty after the Manchester United defender attempted to make amends for his original mistake.

Southgate rose from his seat in the dugout to survey the scene in the 26th minute. This was not what he ordered after Friday’s dull 2-0 win over Malta.

Lewis enjoyed a comfortable life as an English footballer and Foden impressed with cameos.

But this was more passive than assertive. It wasn’t that anyone was playing particularly poorly, but rather without enthusiasm or swagger.

So you could predict what was coming. And the moment the North Macedonians could dream of arrived in the last five minutes of the first half.

Inevitably VAR was involved. The incident that eventually led to Filip Glova pointing out the spot came down hard on Lewis, who caught Bojan Miovski in the face with an arm as he jumped to the side.

The No. 9 fell to the ground, albeit quite theatrically. The Slovakian referee decided after inspecting his screen that there was sufficient contact to award the penalty.

The stadium and the home players cheered, the English players were stunned.

At second glance, the decision seemed harsh. There was no intention whatsoever on Lewis’s part. But who knows these days.

The drama was not over yet. While there was a hush at the Tose Proeski Stadium in anticipation of the ensuing frenzy, the home fans were not counting on Jordan Pickford’s abilities from the spot.

England’s No. 1 saved Enis Bardhi’s penalty to become the first English goalkeeper in a decade to save from the spot.

But Pickford could do nothing about Bardhi’s follow-up as the stadium erupted. What a moment for them.

Also a big moment for England. But for different reasons.

They engineered a response, with Lewis forcing Dimitrievski into a comfortable save with England’s first shot on target in stoppage time, before a subdued Trent Alexander-Arnold forced the home guard into another stop before the whistle.

The half ended in angry circumstances as both sides clashed after Dimitrievski confronted an obviously hurt Maguire who lay on the deck in pain after a blow to the head.

VAR intervened again at England’s expense in the 47th minute when Jack Grealish saw his close-range effort ruled out.

But finally there was positivity, at least in terms of offering a threat. The sight of Kane stripped and ready to come on for the ineffective Watkins in the 58th minute was cause for further hope.

And England were level within a minute of the captain coming on after Atanasov mistimed his header, under pressure from Kane, past Dimitrievski to score the 200th goal of Southgate’s reign.

Yet improvements in England’s performance were marginal. There was urgency, but again very little penetration.

Southgate sent on Marcus Rashford, Cole Palmer and Kalvin Phillips in the final six minutes but it made no difference. More questions than answers for England.