Ahead of the fixture, there were concerns for the safety of the England players due to the condition of the pitch. The surface at the Tose Proeski Arena was recently relaid after heavy criticism, but it drew more of the same on Monday night.
Following the 1-1 draw, members of Gareth Southgate’s side complained the pitch was full of sand and stones. And Grealish has revealed that, as a result of the poor surface, both he and Foden picked up cuts and grazes. “I have got cuts all over,” the Manchester City midfielder said. “The pitch was awful. It baffles me how pitches like that are acceptable, to be honest.
“There were like little stones everywhere. Phil has cut his hand because of the stones on the pitch, but yes, it is part of what you are going to get to some places.”
Grealish’s City side return to action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Liverpool to the Etihad. Just a point separates the two sides in the table. However, Pep Guardiola has a mounting injury list to deal with. Before a ball was even kicked, Mateo Kovacic, Nathan Ake, Matheus Nunes and Ederson were forced to withdraw from their respective national teams.
John Stones, Sergio Gomez and Kevin De Bruyne remain long-term absentees, while Rodri and Erling Haaland both missed games for their respective countries but are expected to be fit for this weekend’s game.
Manchester City pair Jack Grealish and Phil Foden were both left with bad cuts after playing on North Macedonia’s ‘awful’ pitch on Monday night.
