ST. PETERsburg, June 14: Slovakia claimed on their third ever major tournament win thanks to Milan Škriniar’s instinctive finish against Poland in St. Petersburg.
Ondrej Duda had already gone close when Slovakia broke the deadlock 18 minutes in. Róbert Mak did the legwork, slaloming in from the left before unleashing a shot which took one deflection, struck a post and ricocheted in off Poland keeper Wojciech Szczęsny.
There was nothing quite so fortunate about Poland’s equaliser just 30 seconds after the break, Karol Linetty turning the ball in after a neat interchange down the left channel.
Linetty had half a chance to complete the turnaround moments later but Poland’s momentum was checked when Grzegorz Krychowiak was sent off midway through the second half.
Škriniar, up for a corner, applied the decisive blow after a sharp turn and finish inside a crowded penalty area, even if Robert Lewandowski, Jan Bednarek and Karol Świderski did all threaten late on.
A deserved win, and only Slovakia’s second Euro victory ever. Štefan Tarkovič’s squad produced a brilliant first half, and they bounced back well from Linetty’s equaliser. Krychowiak’s red card certainly helped a young Slovakia side.
A very disappointing result for Poland. Paulo Sousa’s team struggled in defence and were not able to feed Lewandowski as much as they would have liked. Krychowiak’s red card was a turning point, ruining their attacking plans. There’s a lot of improvement needed before facing Spain next time out. (UEFA.COM)
