It wasn't particularly impressive, and for long periods it looked unlikely, but yet again Sven Goran Eriksson's England side got the result they needed when it mattered most. Eriksson has had his critics during his England reign, but the facts are that his side picked up their seventh successive victory and the last time that happened was back in 1966.
If, as expected, England beat Liechtenstein on Wednesday night a draw in Istanbul against Turkey next month will be enough to guarantee Eriksson and his players top spot in Group Seven, and with it a place in the European Championship finals next summer.
Eriksson is comfortable that Turkey will be forced to take the game to England in an attempt to try and win the game on October 11th. "That is so important," said Eriksson. "They have to attack us and score goals against us. There is a big difference going there needing a draw rather than a win."
England skipper David Beckham has warned Turkey that the intimidatory tactics used by a few of the Macedonia players, as well as some sections of the crowd, will not work. He admitted that the sight of the Macedonians burning the St George's cross before the game only served to motivate the England players to succeed.
"It's all about character and the team showed that," said Beckham. "Things were being said, players were being spat at, which is not nice, and there were a few racist taunts from the crowd as well. But it just geed the players up.
"A few of us saw the flag burning. I have never seen that in a stadium before. But our players are bigger than that and showed it again. But the atmosphere in Turkey is going to be more intense than I've seen before. It will be a heated match because of what's at stake, but I know we can come through it and hopefully things will go well for us."
Macedonian midfielder Artim Sakiri has made light of claims he made death threats to the England captain during the match. "People say things like 'I'll kill you' during a game, but that doesn't mean it happens," said the West Brom player. "Players in England swear all the time, every other word is a swear word."
UEFA communications director Mike Lee has conformed to the BBC that they will look into claims of racist abuse by fans at the game in Skopje. Emile Heskey was the one of the players targeted for abuse and Five Live match commentator Alan Green has offered to identify the culprits he saw during the match.
"We will look at the report from the game and the match video," said Lee. "I listened to the game and heard what Alan Green said. We will be starting disciplinary proceedings".
Meanwhile, Sven Goran Eriksson says England fans should take the advice of the FA and not travel to Istanbul next month. The FA has already rejected their ticket allocation for fear of trouble and Eriksson said: "If it is a security problem it is better not to travel. You can risk being injured, you can even risk your life."
On the fitness front, ahead of Wednesday's game against Liechtenstein, Nicky Butt is a slight casualty and missed training this morning but his ankle problem is not believed to be serious and he should be fit to play.
Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand, who both missed the Macedonia victory, are stepping up their fitness programme following a return to training on Sunday.
