Macedonia v England
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
8pm, Wednesday 6 September 2006
Gradski, Skopje
Live on Sky Sports 1

Macedonia

0-1

England

 

 

Crouch 46

Peter Crouch continued his remarkable goalscoring record with the Three Lions as he fired a crucial winning goal in Macedonia.

The Liverpool striker hooked home a shot from a Frank Lampard cross in the 46th minute to crown a perfect start to Steve McClaren’s reign.

The 1-0 victory means England have won all three of their matches under their new Head Coach - scoring ten goals and conceding none.

It also means Crouch has hit 11 goals in his last 10 games for the Three Lions, making him possibly the hottest striker in world football.

There was plenty to cheer in Skopje because make no mistake, this was not an easy game. And it had a nervy, frenetic finish.

Following the 4-0 mauling of Greece and the 5-0 thumping of Andorra, Macedonia gave England a real test and forced the visitors to defend for long periods.

Captain John Terry had to be at his very best, making several crucial blocks and interceptions - none more than in the first half when he somehow got in the way of a goal bound effort from Velice Sumulikoski.

Owen Hargreaves and Frank Lampard worked tirelessly in midfield, too, but striker Crouch has a way of grabbing the headlines.

He had England’s best chance to break the deadlock in the first half when he rose to meet a Phil Neville long throw after 24 minutes and saw his header superbly tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Jane Nikoloski.

Neville took another throw from the same spot on the right wing three minutes later and this time it missed Crouch and fell for Jermain Defoe to send a spectacular overhead kick narrowly wide.

The same routine ended with Defoe volleying wide before half-time, while Lampard saw a left-foot effort superbly saved.

But if it sounds one-sided it certainly wasn’t, because Macedonia ran at England whenever possible and were always dangerous.

The crucial moment for the Three Lions came just seconds into the second half when Lampard did superbly to block a clearance inside the Macedonia area.

He got the ball under control and sent over a bouncing cross that Crouch somehow managed to turn on and hook a superb shot past keeper Nikoloski.

There was a moment of hesitation as Macedonia claimed it hadn’t crossed the line, but it clearly had and the goal was given.

Crouch could have scored again soon after, sending a superb volley just wide, while Gerrard saw a bobbling shot tipped around the post.

But Macedonia never gave up and caused all kinds of havoc in the dying stages as England battled for their lives.

Substitute Artim Sakiri, who famously scored against England in a 2-2 draw at St Mary’s three years ago, made a real difference as he fired a left-foot shot frighteningly close to Paul Robinson’s post.

Then, with only five minutes to go, Ashley Cole made a dramatic goal-line clearance after a low Sakiri cross seemed destined to end up in the net.

There was still time for Hargreaves to have a free-kick well saved and Cole to produce more heroics with some fine tackles down the left flank. But England, who brought on Andy Johnson and Michael Carrick on in the dying minutes, hung on for what could prove to be a vital victory.

On this evidence, not many teams will come to Skopje and leave with all three points. But England have done - and what a start for the new manager.

Macedonia: Nikolovski, Noveski, Petrov, Sedloski, Igor Mitreski, Lazarevski, Jancevski (Tasevski 49), Sumulikoski, Naumoski (Sakiri 74), Maznov (Stojkov 66), Pandev.

Subs: Pacovski, Aleksander Mitreski, Vasovski, Grozdanovski, .

England: 1 Robinson, 2 P Neville, 3 A Cole, 4 Gerrard, 5 Ferdinand, 6 Terry (c), 7 Hargreaves, 8 Lampard (15 Carrick 85), 9 Crouch (18 Johnson 88), 10 Defoe (16 Lennon 85), 11 Downing

Subs: 12 Bridge, 13 Foster, 14 Brown, 17 Bent,

Team Colours:

Macedonia: Red shirts, red shorts, red socks, GK all black or grey tbc
England: White shirts, blue shorts, white socks, GK all blue

Match Officials:

Referee: Bertrand Layec
Assistant Referees: Patrick Reinbold, Franck Leloup
Fourth Official: Damien Ledentu (All from France)