Read David Hytner's match report
It’s not just England who have scored seven tonight. Seven MPs have voted against approving the report on Boris Johnson’s lies about Partygate. That scoreline wasn’t 7-0, though: it was 7-354.
Time for me to sign off. Thanks for your company, correspondence and corrections. The English football season of 2022-23 has ended at last – not with a whimper but a bang. And a hat-trick from a player who had never scored one before.
“So who knew,” asks Bill Jones, “that all England needed was the Liverpool midfield? Now, if Liverpool could only get their midfield sorted...”
“Gazball?!” says Simon McMahon. “(Sorry).”
Bukayo Saka is talking to Channel 4. “I don’t know what to say,” he says. “I’m just so happy.” Asked which of the three goals was his favourite, he chuckles, says he liked the first, but he has to go for the second.
He shares the credit around too. “Me and Rashy, we were really direct… At half-time, Trent told me he was going to do that pass and he did.”
Saka is 21 and he now has 11 goals for England. The pundits are impressed: “I think he’s got another level as well,” says Steven Gerrard.
“He looks as if he’s just having fun with his mates,” adds Jill Scott.
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Credit to the defence, too. For the second game running, England didn’t let their opponents have a shot.
“I am sure,” says James Maslen, “in the postmortem it will be ‘only North Macedonia’ but this seems very special.”
Agreed. North Macedonia are a decent team who had never lost by nearly this many.
England have 12 points from four games in their Euro group. They have scored 15 goals and conceded one. In fact, they’ve scored 11 in five days. These are not just numbers: they’re a tribute to the stamina and style and star quality of an admirable squad. And the resilience of a remarkable manager who looked as if he’d had enough only six months ago.
FULL TIME! England 7-0 North Macedonia
The ref decides not to have any added time, which is the best thing to have happened to North Macedonia for an hour or so. A rollicking victory for England: they had so much fun, it was basically Bazball.
90 min A rare touch for Jordan Pickford, from an England throw-in…
87 min A late flurry of chances for England. The best one fell to Foden on the edge of the box from a corner. He hit it well, but a deflection carried it just wide of the post.
83 min England haven’t scored for ten minutes: I just don’t know what’s going off out there.
81 min It’s all over bar the emailing. “I think,” says Simon McMahon. “we’re lucky to be living through an era of incredibly high standards in sport, particularly team sports like cricket and football. The thing about Bazball, and Guardiola’s City side, is that they are not simply philosophies on how the game should be played. Everyone has a philosophy. What makes them different is the rare combination of innovative coaching and tactics, inspirational leadership, individuals with the confidence and skill to deliver on the field without fear of failure, and of course a sprinkling of genius. If only it was that simple all the time.”
78 min Phillips picks up a yellow card for a professional foul.
76 min … but according to the Sky Sports app, they have had only three clear-cut chances.
76 min England have had nine shots on target and scored with seven of them …
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74 min Kane was about to be replaced by Callum Wilson, so if the pen had come a minute later, it would have been Wilson taking it. Kane acknowledges this with a broad smile as he goes off now.
GOAL! England 7-0 North Macedonia (Kane pen 73)
High, just wide enough, and handsome. That’s Kane’s 50th goal as England captain. Correction: it was Stones, not Kane himself, who went down at the corner.
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Penalty to England!
Kane goes down at a corner and the ref points to the spot.
69 min Another sub for North Macedonia, another member of the Babunski family. David joins his brother Dorian.
68 min Apparently Saka is the youngest man to score an England hat-trick since Theo Walcott.
66 min A nice moment for Phillips, who was in the right place at the right time, in the six-yard box, when the ball came loose after a cross failed to reach Kane. England’s first five goals went to strikers who had had a season to remember; now there’s one for a midfielder who’s had a year to forget, and had never scored for England before.
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GOAL! England 6-0 North Macedonia (Phillips 64)
You know you’re in trouble when you let Kalvin Phillips score a goal.
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62 min Grealish is making an early impression down the left. North Macedonia made three substitutions, bringing on Serafimov, Atanasov and Dorian Babunski for Zajkov, Ademi and Trajkovski. And there was one at half-time that I missed, sorry – the captain Ristovski went off to nurse his battered head, and was replaced by Bejtulai.
58 min Off come Rice, Henderson, Rashford and Saka, who will collect one of the match balls later. Southgate is waiting with hugs for them all, and the widest smile for Saka.
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57 min Seven subs are coming on. Four are English, and three of those are from the other side of Manchester – Phillips, Grealish and Foden. The odd man out is Gallagher.
It’s a fair cop.
@TimdeLisle Sorry to be the pedant, but that strike from Saka wasn’t actually a volley as it bounced before he hit it. But yes, it was good.
— RedBird101 (@HarringayBirder) June 19, 2023
54 min This is the first time Saka, Kane and Rashford have started together, and after taking nearly half an hour to get used to each other, they’ve scored five goals between them in about 25 minutes.
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HAT-TRICK! England 5-0 North Macedonia (Saka 51)
Another one! This one is simple, as Kane sends Saka through to the penalty spot and all he has to do is keep cool – which he does without thinking.
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48 min Alexander-Arnold produced a photocopy of the glorious ball to Saka that led to the first goal in Malta. This time Saka didn’t need anyone else. He took one touch, then another, then volleyed the ball into the top corner. Magic.
GOAL! England 4-0 North Macedonia (Saka 47)
This is a cracker. And so is the assist.
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46 min North Macedonia have never lost in England, but they’ll be doing well if that is still the case in 44 minutes. They get the second half under way and keep the ball for about 80 seconds, before a loose cross is cleared by Alexander-Arnold…
HALF-TIME! England 3-0 North Macedonia
Another masterly performance from England, with Henderson and Rashford standing out. Poor old North Macedonia have had a mare of two halves: after conceding three times in the second half against Ukraine, they’ve done it again in the first half here.
45 min There will be three added minutes. For once the ball is in England’s half, where Maguire gets in a tangle and has to be rescued by the whistle.
44 min Kane won the ball back high and released Henderson, who played a simple cross to Rashford. He had just hit a shot straight at the keeper, after a one-two with Maguire of all people, but he made no mistake this time.
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GOAL! England 3-0 North Macedonia (Rashford 43)
Game over!
41 min England put a foot wrong at last. Declan Rice, to his dismay, gets a yellow card. He protests politely, saying he won the ball, but he did stand on an instep too.
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39 min That move went from Rashford to Kane to Saka, who did a U-turn and played it back to TAA. He slipped the ball wide to Walker, who played it inside to Saka, who had time to hit a right-foot shot high into the net. Lovely stuff.
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GOAL! England 2-0 North Macedonia (Saka 38)
Another one! Classic Saka.
36 min Eljif Elmas, North Macedonia’s star player, has been kept very quiet by Declan Rice. He gets a couple of touches now, but only by dropping so deep that he turns into a fourth centre-back.
33 min Another good move: Henderson to Saka, right across to Rashford. His volleyed cross is too hot for Henderson, who can only let it bounce off him. For such a good all-round footballer, he’s not much of a finisher.
30 min The vision came from Henderson, who spotted Rashford starting a run. And then from Rashford, who waited for Shaw to race past him on the underlap, timing the pass just right. The cross was strong and the finish was excellent, slammed high to the keeper’s left. Kane has now scored in six England matches in a row.
GOAL! England 1-0 North Macedonia (Kane 29)
The breakthrough! And it’s a fine flowing move – Henderson to Rashford to Shaw to Kane, who finishes with his left foot.
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26 min England win a free kick 40 yards out in the inside-right channel. TAA overhits it but will get another chance as there’s a corner. Maguire gets his head to it, only to nod it wide, and be penalised.
“I’m with Graham in Helsinki when it comes to Maguire,” says Julian Menz. “Yes he’s been decent enough for England down the years, but Southgate, loyalty aside, should be using matches like these to test replacements for a player who has obvious limitations.” He did give Guehi a start on Friday, and Mings a recall.
25 min Alexander-Arnold gets the ball twice on the right wing, leading you to expect a juicy cross, but he’s now so much of a midfielder that he plays the simple ball to the nearest team-mate.
“The Ashes...bloody hell.” says Brendan Large. “Bazball isn’t letting anyone down. But let’s not compare Maguire to Broad or Anderson please. We have many options at CB that are playing at the highest level (and just playing is something Maguire isn’t doing). Southgate is pushing it now.”
22 min Yet more possession for England, but it’s all a bit too fiddly and central. Again Rashford is the one threatening to make something happen, wiggling to the byline and getting a cross in.
19 min England are keeping the ball with ease – 66pc possession so far. Rashford dances into the box and gets a cross in, but the keeper swallows it.
16 min England’s turn to counter with some fizzing passes from TAA and Rashford. A cross from Henderson finds the head of Kane, but he goes down after a clash of heads with his opposite number, Ristovski, who goes off to get a bandage.
15 min Rashford goes over to see Saka but can’t quite pull off an ambitious one-two. North Macedonia break down the right and Henderson dives in with a foul, cynical but effective.
11 min An email comes in from Leighton Taylor. “While there’s a lot to disagree with Graham who seems upset that the England manager has picked what he considers to be his strongest team for an important game, the main one is that he suggests there’s a player out there who is hungrier than Luke Shaw! Everyone knows that legend loves a pudding more than any young upstart.”
10 min Shaw swings it in, Stones gets the header – but it’s a loopy one and he didn’t know that Maguire was in a better position, a yard behind him.
9 min Henderson, pressing like a maniac, wins a corner on the left.
7 min Some classy touches from TAA. If you hadn’t seen England play before, you would assume he was a senior player.
5 min Rashford sees that dash to the byline and makes one himself, after some neat passes by Kane and Henderson, but he too is closed down. The wingers are on it.
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4 min Something similar up the other end, as Ashkovski breaks up the right wing. He reaches the byline but Maguire closes him down.
2 min A neat turn takes Saka into the area, where he has room to get a shot in – easily saved by Dimitrievski. This is the first time Saka and Rashford have started together for England.
1 min Alexander-Arnold gets the ball rolling. John Stones goes long, much like City in the opening seconds of the Cup Final, but can’t quite find Kane.
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The anthems ring out and the players exchange hand-slaps. The England XI, apparently, have 579 caps between them, which means they’re the most experienced team Gareth Southgate has ever sent out.
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Gareth Southgate is talking to Channel 4. The first question is whether TAA is now undroppable. Gareth responds with a hesitation that speaks volumes (about the question). Finally he says, “We felt this was the best team to win the game, and he was outstanding in that game [against Malta].”
Any concerns over Jack Grealish’s fitness? “No. We just felt that Marcus [Rashford] has the right attributes. We need strength to come from the bench and the other guys have that depth.” He says North Macedonia have good technical players in midfield and the forward areas and are good at quick counter-attacks. “So when you’re pressing, which has been a real strength for us in recent games, you have to make sure your decision-making is right.”
Last week I went to see Dear England, the new play at the National Theatre about Southgate and how he changed the culture. (It got a standing ovation.) This means I now listen to Southgate talking and think about whether he’s nailed his impression of Joseph Fiennes.
A sceptic writes. “I’m just lost,” says Graham in Helsinki, “as to why we still have Maguire, Walker and Shaw playing. Yesterday’s news. We should name younger and hungrier bodies. Even Kane should be dropped and someone like Toney or Watkins picked. Toney just because autocrats shouldn’t pick our team. How dare they ban him while allowing betting shops to advertise.”
This raises an important question. What does Graham think about Ben Stokes sticking with Stuart Broad?
The football, clearly, can’t compete with the cricket. If you’re on news blackout, please look away now. If not, I can tell you that Australia have finished a fabulous fluctuating day on 107-3, so England are now (whisper it) narrow favourites. Stuart Broad has taken out the top two batters in the world: Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne managed 35 runs in four innings in the match. All the details here with the master of the high-speed verdict, Rob Smyth.
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Somebody had to mention Macedonia’s most famous name, so I’m handing the baton to Peter Oh. “Could this clash,” he wonders, “be billed as Alexander the Great versus Alexander-Arnold the Great?”
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North Macedonia team
Blagoja Milevski, the North Macedonia manager, makes only one change. Visar Musliu, the defender who was sent off against Ukraine, is replaced by Darko Velkovski.
North Macedonia (3-5-2ish) Dimitrievski; Ristovski, Zajkov, Velkovski; Ashkovski, Elmas, Ademi, Bardhi, Alioski; Nestorovski, Trajkovski.
Subs: Shiskovski, Iliev, Bejtulai, Serafimov, Atanasov, Manev, David Babunski, Elezi, Dimoski, Doriev, Ristovski, Dorian Babunski.
England team: Walker, Stones, Rashford back
When in Manchester, recall a few Manchester stars. Kyle Walker, John Stones and Marcus Rashford return to the starting line-up in place of Kieran Trippier, Marc Guehi and James Maddison. Trent Alexander-Arnold continues in midfield, as expected – though you wonder if he and Stones and will tread on each other’s twinkle toes.
England (4-3-3-ish) Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Henderson; Saka, Kane, Rashford.
Subs: Ramsdale, Johnstone, Trippier, Guehi, Mings, Phillips, Gallagher, Foden, Eze, Grealish, Maddison, Wilson.
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Preamble
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. The 2022-23 English football season has been going on so long, it could be Elton John’s farewell tour. It began with the Charity Shield at Wembley on 30 July, way back when Man City were still capable of losing. It finally comes to an end tonight at Old Trafford, with England’s tenth match of the season – although if you’re a Scotland fan, or just an admirer of their ability to inflict defeat on Erling Haaland, there’s still tomorrow’s game against Georgia to look forward to.
Like Scotland, England have a spotless record in these Euro qualifiers with three wins out of three. Facing North Macedonia at home, they are hot favourites to make it four, but history might say otherwise. North Macedonia, who went 2-0 up against Ukraine last week before conceding three times, have never lost in England. And while they’ve never won either, their two draws – 2-2 in 2002, 0-0 in 2006, both in qualifiers like this one – probably felt like wins.
Will North Macedonia do it again? Or will England enjoy a cruise, as they did in Malta? Will Trent Alexander-Arnold stay in midfield, where he was the star player the other night? Will any of the City contingent come back into the starting XI, after incurring some mild distaste from Gareth Southgate by turning their treble celebrations into a stag weekend?
All these questions will be answered from 7.45pm Manchester time (8.45 in Skopje). I’ll be back shortly with the teams.
