Slovak football representative Robert Mak celebrates a goal in the Polish net during the EURO match.
Anton Vaganov, Reuters
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The Slovak footballers successfully started the European Championship when they defeated Poland 2: 1 in the opening match of Group E. He got into the lead in the first half thanks to his own goal of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. After a break, Karol Linetty equalized, but Milan Škriniar scored the decisive goal in the 69th minute. The Poles were already playing for seven minutes without Grzegorz Krychowiak, who was eliminated after the second yellow card.
Slovakia celebrated its second European Championship victory in history and extended its current invincibility to six matches. By contrast, Poland has won only one duel out of the last eight.
Slovak joy. Robert Mak celebrates a goal in Poland’s net during the EURO match.
Kirill Kudryavtsev, Reuters
The winning charges of coach Štefan Tarkovič will have another match on Friday, when they will challenge Sweden again in St. Petersburg.
Both teams started the duel in St. Petersburg with a high commitment, but during the opening quarter of an hour they did not create any major opportunity. Attentive Poláky was surprised by the direct action of the midfielder Mak, who in the 18th minute got through two defenders in front of Szczesny’s goalkeeper, hit the bar with a hard blow, but the ball came back and from the lying Polish goalkeeper and fell into the net. It was not only the first own goal in this year’s tournament, but also the historically premiere hit to the own net, which was attributed to the goalkeeper at the European Championships.
The Poles could answer immediately, but Rybus’s blow blocked Kuck. The former Spartan midfielder immediately countered after a mistake in the Polish passing with a dangerous attempt from the border of the penalty area, but on a promising occasion he overshot. During the later break, Captain Hamšík also missed, who started his 127th national team start.
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Polish footballer Grzegorz Krychowiak falls to the ground after a duel with Slovak Juraj Kucka, Slovak Marek Hamšík also took part in the duel for the ball in the EURO match.
Evgenya Novozhenina, ČTK / AP
However, what the Poles failed to do in the entire first half, they managed just 32 seconds after returning from the cabin. After a quick team match, Rybus found Linetty completely free in front of the goal, and despite the not very emphatic ending, he directed the ball into the net out of reach of the jumping goalkeeper Dúbravka. He scored his third goal in the national team jersey and also the second fastest in the history of the second half at the European Championships. Previously, Romanian Marcel Coras scored only at 45:21 in a duel with Germany in 1984.
The “red and white” equalizing goal woke up and a moment later Linetta could re-establish himself after Klich’s pass, but this time he did not beat Dúbravka.
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Slovak football representative Tomáš Hubočan apologizes to Polish opponent Kamil Jozwiak during the EURO match.
Kirill Kudryavtsev, Reuters
Another ambition of the Poles was dulled by Krychowiak after an hour of play, who stepped on Hromad’s instep after the fight and was eliminated after the second yellow card. The Slovaks took advantage of the numerical advantage right after seven minutes, when Škriniar leaned on the ball after an averted corner and returned the lead to coach Tarkovič’s charges.
Poland regrouped in the end and coach Sousa sent other attackers to the field, both Lewandowski after a corner kick and Bednarek failed in their last chances. By winning, Slovakia has taken an important step towards the next phase.
| European Football Championship: |
| Group E (St. Petersburg): |
| Poland – Slovakia 1: 2 (0: 1) |
| Goals: 46. Linetta – 18. owns Szczesny, 69. Škriniar. Judges: Hategan – Ghinguleac, Gheorghe – Kovács (video, all Rum.). ŽK: Krychowiak – Hubočan. ČK: 62. Krychowiak. Audience: limited number. |
| Poland: Szczesny – Bereszyňski, Glik, Bednarek, Rybus (74th Puchacz) – Linetty (74th Frankowski), Krychowiak, Klich (85th Moder) – Jóžwiak, Lewandowski, Zieliňski (85th Šwiderski). Trenér: Sousa. |
| Slovakia: Dúbravka – Pekarík (79. Koscelník), Šatka, Škriniar, Hubočan – Haraslín (87. Ďuriš), Kucka, Hromada (79. Hrošovský), Mak (87. Suslov) – Hamšík – Duda (90. + 2 Greguš). Coach: Tarkovič. |
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