Gareth Southgate praised Rico Lewis after the teenage debutant bounced back from a contentious penalty call made against him during an impressive first England appearance away to North Macedonia. An unbeaten year that started with victory in Italy ended with a 1-1 draw away in chilly Skopje as the Euro 2020 runners-up rubberstamped their place among the top seeds for next year’s finals. Monday’s trip to Skopje represented England’s final match on foreign soil before Euro 2024 gets under way in June, and Southgate’s side had to dig deep after falling behind to a team they beat 7-0 in June. Lewis was unlucky to see a spot-kick awarded against him shortly after Harry Maguire survived making a clumsy challenge in the box, with Enis Bardhi scoring after Jordan Pickford saved his initial spot-kick. England returned from the break strongly and Southgate quickly turned to Harry Kane, who immediately forced Jani Atanasov into an own goal that would seal the draw. “I thought the performance was good, mentality was excellent,” England boss Southgate said after bringing the curtain down on 2023. “I thought we played well, we totally controlled the game. “It was difficult with the way that they defended and the pitch not easy to get the perfect final pass. “But I thought there were some excellent performances within the game. “I didn’t think that was a penalty. The one before might have been, so maybe that evened itself out. “I’ve zero to say about (the VAR) which probably tells you everything.” Thankfully Southgate was more forthcoming when it came to the performance of versatile talent Lewis. Making his England debut a day shy of his 19th birthday, the left-back was in a far more advanced position in possession and reacted well to the penalty decision against him. Lewis caught Bojan Miovski with an arm when rising to win a header and referee Filip Glova pointed to the spot after reviewing the incident on the VAR’s behest. Asked if that moment may overshadow the teenager’s debut, Southgate said: “Well, it shouldn’t do because he was excellent. “His performance and then his reaction to what I know will have been a disappointment for him, but we’re not looking at him for being at fault in any way. “His composure with the ball was outstanding and he should be really proud because we are very, very pleased with what he did.” Southgate said there was no need to console Lewis about the penalty at half-time and instead reminded him about how well he was playing. “We thought Rico throughout the whole game was excellent,” the England manager added. “Great composure, great resilience. “We didn’t feel he had anything to come back from but I know sometimes as a player you might feel that. “But we thought there was no crime, so we were pleased with everything he did.” Lewis was the youngest starter on a night when Manchester City team-mate Kyle Walker was the elder statesman and skippered his country for the first time. “It was a nice moment for him to captain his country,” Southgate said of the 33-year-old. “He’s really grown in terms of his leadership. I know he’s thriving on that with his club and that will be a special moment in his career as well.” Read More Michael O’Neill calls Northern Ireland win over Denmark step in right direction Phil Taylor to retire from darts at the end of next year Everton’s 10-point penalty ‘grossly unjust’ and should be suspended, says MP Rob Page: Wales not entertaining Euro 2024 play-off talk before Turkey qualifier Mayor of Liverpool writes to Premier League over ‘excessive’ Everton penalty 5 talking points ahead of Republic of Ireland’s friendly against New Zealand

Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly said two staffers were injured Monday by a man wielding a bat who came into his district office in Fairfax.

Pennsylvania escaped inmate Michael Burham has been captured without incident in a wooded area near Warren, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN.

Apple is hosting its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, and like Microsoft’s Build,

Mauricio Pochettino says Reece James’ “leadership” is why he handed him the Chelsea captaincy and defended the full-back after he picked up a suspension during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last month. James, who did not play the match through injury, was suspended for Chelsea’s win over Burnley for aiming “abusive words” at a match official in the tunnel during the clash at Stamford Bridge and was ordered to pay a £90,000 fine. But Pochettino has seen James’ leadership attributes and believes his actions were a mistake fuelled by frustration after he sustained a hamstring injury in August. “Why did I choose him as captain? Because of his personality, his leadership, the respect he has from the club and his team-mates and he has my full respect also,” Pochettino said. “Chelsea is in his DNA and when you see the squad he is not only for the present, he is for the future and in this moment Chelsea need someone like that. “I think he was upset with the situation. He was so committed with this project from the beginning, he felt really bad because he could not help the team. “He made a mistake but he’s young and he can make mistakes. He was really sorry about that situation and I don’t think it will be repeated. “Even myself at Burnley I got a yellow card at half-time and I’m 51 years old; sometimes a young guy can make a mistake, he was frustrated because he could not help the team.” Pochettino said that James’ fitness “will be assessed” ahead of Saturday’s clash against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, quashing reports the full-back suffered a setback in his recovery. James has only started 22 times in the Premier League since January 2022 after a raft of injury issues. Pochettino added: “He is much better, he’s doing well and he’s progressing. He’s not at his best and is not 100 per cent, but he is in a position to help the team at some point and he is close. “What we are going to do is to avoid that (surgery) and we are building a strategy for him, to put him at his best and keep him at his best. “We are confident (of this). Always confident.” Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea during their 2-0 victory over Fulham and he opened his account for Ukraine when he netted against Malta in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday. Pochettino is happy with the winger’s progress after the 22-year-old struggled to adapt to life in west London following his big-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January. He said: “We are so happy with him. He’s changed a lot in the last three months since we first met him and he’s a completely different person and we can see how lovely, sensitive, smart and clever he is. “It is so important to give confidence and when people trust they can be open and express their talent and Misha (Mudryk) is doing really well with his relationships with the team and club.” Read More I don’t remember – Pep Guardiola denies tipping Roberto De Zerbi as successor Luke Shaw not expected to be fit until after November’s international break FIFA hands two-year doping ban to World Cup winner Papu Gomez Rotherham’s game with Ipswich off and Scottish matches postponed due to storm It is bad news – Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi expects Man City to bounce back Kevin Sinfield calls on England to empty tanks against South Africa

Ginger Zee provided details from the White House report, aiming to illustrate the impact of climate change

Wondering what time the Godzilla and King Kong event, Operation Monarch, is kicking off. Here's what you need to know.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin climbed off the bench to kick-start Everton’s season in a 3-1 win at Brentford. The England striker grabbed his first goal of the campaign to wrap up a first Premier League win for Sean Dyche’s side. James Tarkowski had headed the Toffees back into the lead against his old club after Mathias Jensen cancelled out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener. It was a vastly improved display by Everton, although the Bees were not at their best. They were not helped by a late reshuffle after Kevin Schade limped off during the warm-up and was replaced by Keane Lewis-Potter. Ashley Young immediately fell foul of a surging Lewis-Potter run, the 38-year-old’s tackle earning him a booking after just 38 seconds, the fastest of the season so far. But Everton went ahead in the sixth minute after James Garner’s corner was initially cleared. When the ball was laid back to Garner, the England under-21 midfielder swung in a cross towards Tarkowski. The former Bees defender knocked the ball down and Doucoure lashed it home on the volley for what was only Everton’s third league goal of the season. They should have been further ahead, but when Dwight McNeil raced on to Beto’s flick-on he dragged his effort just wide, before Doucoure crashed a shot against the crossbar. Brentford were uncharacteristically giving the ball away at every opportunity, but when they finally managed to string a few passes together, they equalised. Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and then Vitaly Janelt fed the ball out to Jensen, who took a touch before lashing his shot across goal and in off the far post. Everton almost hit the front again when Idrissa Gueye’s through-ball found Beto, who dinked it over the advancing Mark Flekken only to see it float the wrong side of the post. Then Brentford missed a golden chance to go ahead after Gueye gave the ball away and Lewis-Potter just failed to convert Mbeumo’s cross-shot at the far post. Dyche sent on Calvert-Lewin for Beto with half an hour to play, but it was Tarkowski who struck first with a towering header from McNeil’s corner. There was no chance of a muted celebration from the centre-half, who was booed by the home fans throughout, as he gleefully ran off with his fingers in his ears. Calvert-Lewin, who is finally fit again after a string of injuries, then grabbed only his second goal since last October when he collected Garner’s through-ball and slotted home to secure a much-needed victory. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Suzann Pettersen ‘out of words’ after Europe square Solheim Cup ahead of singles Roy Hodgson ‘feels sorry’ for referees as Palace boss questions new directives ‘We should’ve won’ – Rob Edwards reflects on Luton’s first Premier League point

NASCAR's trip to Le Mans was viewed as bit of a joke

Walmart Inc raised its full-year forecasts and beat estimates for second-quarter sales on Thursday, underscoring its strength in

The University of Florida is altering its travel plans for the football team’s season opener at No. 14 Utah in hopes of avoiding Tropical Storm Idalia

The new foreign secretary is visiting Kyiv, as President Zelensky thanks the UK for its support.