Poland 1-2 Slovakia: Euro 2020 – as it happened – The Guardian

Group E: Milan Skriniar scored the odd goal of three to win the points for Slovakia against a Polish team reduced to 10 men shortly after the hour mark.

On ITV: Former referee Peter Walton thinks Krychowiak deserved both his yellow cards, while pundits Ally McCoist, Nigel De Jong and Eni Aluko are unanimous in their agreement that the second was harsh.

“Krychowiak’s first caution seemed soft but accurate,” writes reader Matthew Richman. His second strikes me as entirely harsh. Studs were not planted and nothing about it struck me as out of control or dangerous. A foul, surely, but I’m still wrapping my head around how that was worth a sending off. Not that this is affecting my evaluation in any way, but the Poles in this bar seem to agree.” I’ll bet they do.

Elsewhere in Group E: Spain host Sweden in Seville in tonight’s 8pm (BST) kick-off. John Brewin has the latest …

A quick recap: Slovakia led at half-time courtesy of a fine solo effort from RObert Mak, which unfortunately for the left winger, will go down as a Wojciech Szczesny own goal after the ball hit the post and went in off the goalkeepers outstretched arm.

Poland wasted no time in the second half, with Karol Linetty restoring parity within a minute of the restart. With Poland in the ascendency, they lost midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak to a red card and the tide turned once again. Milan Skriniar won the game for Slovakia, lashing home from the edge of the Poland penalty area as the men in white tried to clear a corner.

Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over in Saint Petersburg, where Slovakia have taken all three points. It’s only their second ever win at the European Championships but they thoroughly deserved all three points.

90+4 min: Swiderski shoots on ther turn after briulliant hold-up play from Lewandowski, who tees him up. He’s unable to get enough power behind his effort to trouble Martin Dubravka, who saves comfortably.

90+2 min: Jan Bednarek has a shot blocked from about 14 yards out but gets another bite of the cherry. He spins and scuffs the ball wide the wrong side of the upright.

90 min: Poland free-kick, wide on the left. Moder curls the ball into the penalty area, where Dubravka punches clear.

88 min: Slovakia doube-substitiution from a couple of minutes ago: Duris and Suslov on for Mak and Haraslin.

86 min: Glik shoots goalwards and his shot is put out for a corner. The ensuing inswinger travels across the face of goal, somehow eluding four different Polish players on its way wide. Lewandowski should have got his head to it but he mistimed his jump.

84 min: Poland win a corner. The delivery is headed clear but only as far as Puchacz. He slices his effort from the edge of the area high and wide.

82 min: Poland look out of ideas as they attempt to rescue something in the final 10 minutes of this game. With Lewandowski up front, there’s always a chance they’ll pull something out of the bag.

81 min: Poland win a free-kick a long way from the Slovakia goal. Zielinski tries to pick out Lewandowski with his delivery but Slovakia clear.

76 min: “You wouldn’t even know that Lewandowski is playing,” says Emma Hayes on ITV co-comms. “At Bayern Munich he has Thomas Mueller but I don’t think he’s had anyone to play off today and he hasn’t had any quality of service.”

72 min: Poland double-substitution: Frankowski and Puchacz on for Rybus and the goalscorer Linetty.

71 min: A man down and a goal down, Poland are in all sorts of bother at the moment despite their dream start to this second half. They’re chasing the game but Paulo Sousa has yet to ring the changes.

Milan Skriniar lashes the ball into the bottom left-hand corner from the edge of the penalty area after the ball had come his way from the corner.

68 min: Haraslin fires into the side-netting, the ball taking a deflection on the way. Corner for Slovakia.

66 min: Paulo Sousa hasn’t made any substitutions since losing his central midfielder, but Lewandowski does seem to have dropped deeper to try and help to fill the Krychowiak-shaped hole.

64 min: It wasn’t a particularly bad challenge from Krychowiak but he was late as he bundled Hromada off the ball and can have no complaints. It didn’t stop him complaining, mind. After his pleas for leniency fell on deaf ears, he marched off the pitch and down the tunnel.

62 min: Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak gets his second yellow card for a late challenge on Jakub Hromada. It’s swiftly followed by a red.

61 min: Linetty is penalised for a foul on Kucka as the pair go down in a tangle of heavily inked limbs.

57 min: On ITV co-comms, Emma Hayes points out that Poland are playing a lot higher up the pitch, meaning that there’s more space between Slovakia’s midfield and their forward players, Ondrey Duda and Marek Hamsik, who are becoming isolated. They were hugely influential in the first half.

56 min: Rybus tries to play Linetty through on goal but there’s too much venom in his pass and the goalscorer is unable to control the ball and turn.

54 min: Dubravka plays the ball out under pressure from Lewandowski to send Slovakia upfield again. They look a little rattled by this Polish onslaught early in the second half.

52 min: Poland have been much better in this second half and win themselves a corner. Kamil Glik leaps to meet the inswinger but heads just over the bar. He should have scored.

51 min: Linetty fails to get enough power on his effort as he pounces on another pull-bac, this time from Klich. Dubravka saves easily.

50 min: Poland win a free-kick just inside their own half. They’ve tweaked their formation to get an extra man into midfield in this second half.

47 min: Linetty slots home from about nine yards out, sweeping a pull-back from Maciej Rybus into ther bottom right-hand corner after great work by Klich and Lewandowski down the left. Dubravka was at full stretch but couldn’t keep the ball out.

Poland draw level just 30 seconds into the second half.

46 min: Poland kick off with no changes in personnel on either side at the start of the second half.

Referee Ovidiu Hategan draws the first half to a close and the teams traipse off with Slovakia a goal to the good. History will unfairly record it as a Wojciech Szczesny own goal, but it came on the back of a terrific solo effort from Robert Mak, who deserves all the credit. He and Marek Hamsik have been outstanding for a Slovakia teram that are well worth their lead.

45 min: The standout player in this first half, Slovakia skipper Marek Hamsik tries another shot from distance. It’s blocked by a defender.

44 min: A Krychowiack cross into the Slovakia penalty is cleared and the men in blue pour forward on the counter. Poland get back and defend well. It’s end-to-end stuff at the Saint Petersburg Stadium as we approach half-time.

40 min: Poland attack on the break, with Robert Lewandowski on the ball. He hesitates, allowing Slovakia to regroup and get back in numbers. He plays the ball wide and then sends a half-chance wide when it’s returned his way, sending a diagonal effort across the face of goal and wide.

37 min: Karol Linetty is the next Polish player to shoot from distance. He fares no better than any of his team-mates, failing to hit the target and force a save out of Martin Dubravka.

36 min: From outside the Poland penalty area, Marek Hamsik pulls a low daisy-cutter well wide of the far post.

35 min: Another opportunity for Poland. Krychowiak shoots from distance but sends his shot a couple of feet over the bar. Moments later, Zielinski has a pop but also fails to find the target.

32 min: Hamsik plays Pekarik in behind Jan Bednarek down the right flank. His cross is inch perfect for Kucka, who is unable to get enough power on his header. Szczesny saves comfortably.

31 min: Kucka goes down in the Poland penalty area prompting Slovakia’s players to appeal for a spot-kick. They don’t get one.

30 min: Marek Hamsik tries his luck with a shot from the left corner of the Polish penalty area. Mateusz Klich gets his body in front of the ball and blocks.

27 min: There was a VAR check for a possible penalty in the build-up to that Poland chance, but match official Marco Di Bello saw no foul.

24 min: Poland go close with a free-flowing move down the right flank. The ball was squared to Maciej Rybus, who failed to connect properly in acres of space.

22 min: Poland mdfielder Gregorz Krychowiak is booked for a foul on Tomas Hubocan, who also received a yellow card for some indiscretion or other in the immediate aftermath of the goal.