England shot stopper Jordan Pickford became the first England goalkeeper to save a penalty from open play in ten years, but that didn’t stop North Macedonia taking the lead.
Pickford joins Hart as only England goalkeepers to save open play penalty in last decade
The Three Lions would’ve expected to go into Monday night’s European qualifier in Skopje for a kickabout and a stroll, but Gareth Southgate’s men found themselves behind at the interval.
Manchester City full-back Rico Lewis conceded a spot-kick on his international debut after catching Bojan Miovski in the area with a careless swipe of the arm, not the early present he was looking for ahead of his 19th birthday tomorrow.
Former England goalkeeper Rob Green was bewildered by referee Filip Glova’s decision to award a penalty following a VAR check, calling the decision ‘rubbish.’
“He has only slightly flicked the player in the eye. A rubbish decision, it is re-refereeing. Unfortunate, nothing more.”
Pickford saved Enis Bardhi’s initial effort from 12 yards but the skipper followed in to open the scoring and put the hosts in front on the stroke of half-time.
The Everton goalkeeper joined the history books as the first England number one to save a non-shootout penalty since Joe Hart denied Ronaldinho in 2013 in a friendly against Brazil.
Despite Pickford’s heroics England fall behind 😬#ThreeLions | #EURO2024 | @AskNationwide pic.twitter.com/NVHN4rzpxH
— Channel 4 Sport (@C4Sport) November 20, 2023
The fortunate break was arguably deserved for North Macedonia, who were denied a strong case for a penalty shortly after the 20 minute mark when Harry Maguire brought Eljif Elmas to the ground in clumsy fashion.
Despite the potential upset that could be on the cards, England have confirmed themselves as the top seed from Group C ahead of next year’s Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
A win for North Macedonia does little for their hopes of qualifying and leaves them in fourth, one spot clear of Malta in rock bottom.
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