Macedonia U21 rose to the top of the table after they defeated Northern Ireland 2:0 on a rainy evening.
Macedonia took the points in a 2:0 win over Northern Ireland side on a rainy evening in Skopje. An own goal from Josh Doherty in the first half was followed up by Kire Markoski’s strike late in the second half.
Both teams worked hard to make their mark on the match early on as heavy rain came down at the National Arena Philip II in Skopje.
Macedonia took the lead on 38 minutes as an own goal from Josh Doherty put the team 1:0 up. It came as cross from the left wing by Avramovski landed deep inside the Northern Ireland box and Doherty misplaced his clearance past Mitchell into his own net.
The start of the second half didn’t see any clear chances for either side. As the second half progressed, the match opened up with chances coming at both ends. The match was put out of reach on 85 minutes as a misplaced pass in the Northern Ireland midfield allowed the home side to go 2:0 up. The Northern Ireland defense was stretched as Markoski made a driving run into the box and finished low past Mitchell. Markoski once again scored (third match in a row) and is now tied leading goalscorer with Radeski.
With this win, and France winning over Iceland, Macedonia is now on the top of the table and will be looking to win over Scotland in their last qualifying round and with some luck and other results going in their favor, qualify for the U21 European Championship 2017 in Poland.
To view the complete match report, click here.
The anthems before the kick-off: