England remained unbeaten for the calendar year and unblemished during their Euro 2024 qualification campaign after a below-par display in their 1-1 draw in North Macedonia.
Gareth Southgate's men enjoyed large swathes of possession as their hosts opted for a more cautious approach to the game and a first chance arrived just before the quarter-hour mark. It fell the way of Declan Rice as the Arsenal star could count himself unfortunate as his low drive struck the far post before landing in the grateful arms of home keeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Another chance followed just minutes later as Ollie Watkins failed to make the most of a fine cross from the left-hand side by sending a tame header off target after escaping the attentions of the North Macedonia defence.
England were never really threatened by their hosts until four minutes before half-time when debutant Rico Lewis was bizarrely punished for catching Bojan Miovski as they challenged for a ball in the area. A VAR check led to the award of a spot-kick and Enis Bardhi beat Jordan Pickford at the second attempt after the Everton stopper had kept out his initial effort.
The Three Lions thought they had restored parity in the early stages of the second-half as a brilliant run from Bukayo Saka allowed the Arsenal man to give Jack Grealish a chance he did not miss - but the goal was ruled out for offside following a three-minute VAR check.
The introduction of Harry Kane at the expense of Watkins proved an instant success as the England captain forced an own goal from Jani Atanasov just seconds after his arrival into the game.
Southgate looked to his bench as Marcus Rashford, Cole Palmer and Kalvin Phillips were introduced for the final ten minutes but a winner evaded the Three Lions as they had to settle for a point that ensured they remained unbeaten during the qualification campaign.
3AddedMinutes assesses the England performance from another challenging night for Southgate and his players.
1. Jordan Pickford - 6
Made a fine penalty save but could do nothing about the rebound. Distribution was strong throughout.
2. Kyle Walker - 6
Captain for the night and had some uncomfortable moments throughout the 90 minutes.
3. Harry Maguire - 5
Lucky not to compound a sloppy pass by giving away a penalty in the first-half. Looked unsure in possession at times.
4. Marc Guehi - 6
An uneventful night for the Crystal Palace man.