Crouch does it again as England edge home
Crouch scored early in the second half
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Wednesday, 06, Sep 2006 10:09
A Peter Crouch goal inside the first minute of the second half ensured that England returned from Skopje with three points after a professional performance against Macedonia.
The Liverpool striker's overhead effort proved enough to secure a 1-0 win against lively, but ultimately limited, opposition whose best chances came in a spell in the last ten minutes of the game.
Rio Ferdinand replaced Wes Brown in the only change from Saturday's 5-0 win over Andorra, and he was pressed into action early on as a busy Macedonian side set about England - with Lazio forward Goran Pandev floating dangerously as the hosts looked to pull England around the park.
But for all their early possession, and attempts to play through England with pacy, intricate football, the hosts frequently found themselves running up against a brick wall marshalled superbly by John Terry - and thus few chances were created by either side in what was a fairly joyless opening half-hour.
Crouch did see a towering header from Phil Neville's long throw tipped over by Jane Nikolovski as England began to settle into some rhythm, the tireless promptings of Owen Hargreaves helping to nullify the Macedonian threat.
Another long Neville throw in the 39th minute was volleyed over by Spurs striker Jermain Defoe, who experienced a welcome return to international goalscoring form against Andorra, but Steve McClaren's men seemed happy to play a patient, containing game - waiting to draw their opponents out.
Macedonia's best chance of the half came moments later, Terry blocking crucially from Velice Sumulikovski as his placed 15-yard effort seemed destined for the bottom corner. England responded with a long-range Frank Lampard effort which Nikolovski scrambled to turn round his right-hand post as the half ended relatively brightly.
Mirroring Scotland's efforts of earlier in the evening against similarly tricky opposition in Lithuania, England started the second half in perfect fashion with a goal inside the opening minute.
Macedonia had not yet settled when, little more than 30 seconds after the restart, Lampard showed great tenacity to charge down a clearance inside the box and loft the ball towards Crouch, who continued his remarkable scoring run in England colours by skilfully hooking the ball home over his shoulder - with his effort just creeping over the line as it bounced off the crossbar.
The hosts were stung, and their efforts to penetrate England's increasingly comfortable back line lacked real belief or conviction. Crouch could even have doubled his side's lead in the 59th minute after being played in by Gerrard but saw his shot flash just wide of Nikolovski's post - while an unorthodox, scuffed effort from the Liverpool skipper required the home keeper to make a sprawling save to his left.
The indefatigable Pandev shot straight at Paul Robinson before Macedonia, prompted by veteran ex-West Brom substitute Artim Sakiri, rallied in the final 15 minutes.
Sakiri himself flashed an effort wide in the 79th minute from his side's clearest opening after sprinting clear down the left, and England's hearts were in their mouths four minutes later needed two attempts to clear off the line from a drilled ball across the six-yard box after a particularly intense bout of pressure.
Aaron Lennon, Michael Carrick and Andy Johnson joined the fray as England sought to close out the match with fresh legs and, despite Sakiri's attempted to torment the visitors' defence with some devilish left-footed set-pieces, it was Owen Hargreaves who came closest to scoring in the final five minutes with a dipping free-kick which Nikolovski tipped over.
It was a case of 'job done' in tricky circumstances, and in truth McClaren's men never looked in serious danger until their hosts rallied in the latter stages of the game. Crouch demonstrated that his international goals do not merely act as sack-fillers in landslide victories and England will reflect on a rare 100 per cent record after two qualifying games.