Poland 2-0 Saudi Arabia: Lewandowski 'opens account' at World Cup

GOAL

Poland: Zielinski (39'), Lewandowski (82')

Saudi Arabia was the underdog. The 2-1 victory over Argentina in the opening match also gave Saudi Arabia a lot of freedom in choosing how to start the match, as a draw would have been enough to satisfy them. However, surprisingly, instead of playing defensively and waiting for the right moment, Saudi Arabia still chose to press and push the pace very high. This style of play by Saudi Arabia somewhat surprised Poland and the European representative encountered many difficulties.

In the 13th minute, Saudi Arabia created the first dangerous opportunity. Kanno fired a powerful shot into the box but goalkeeper Szczesny was excellent enough to save Poland. In the following minutes, Saudi Arabia continued to press the field and Poland went from being the favorites to retreating deep into their own half to play defensive counter-attacks.

However, this was the time when the White Eagles showed their tenacity. Because with just one successful counter-attack, Poland made a difference. In the 39th minute, Lewandowski passed the ball to Zielinski for an accurate shot, helping the home team unexpectedly take the lead. This was the result of a very quick transition from Poland.

The drama continued to be created in the final minutes of the first half. In the 45th minute, after reviewing the VAR, the referee awarded Saudi Arabia a penalty. However, Al-Dawsari could not beat goalkeeper Szczesny. Al-Burayk rushed in to kick the rebound but was again blocked by the Polish goalkeeper. Saudi Arabia missed a great opportunity to equalize right before the end of the first half.

Lewandowski scores first goal at World Cup

In the second half, the game did not change much. Saudi Arabia continued to attack at an extremely fast pace, creating many good chances. However, when it came to the final shot, the Asian strikers all finished very poorly. Saudi Arabia was superior in terms of chances created and expected goals, but they lost to Poland in terms of efficiency in their shots.

Attacking without scoring, Saudi Arabia once again paid the price for their immaturity and lack of concentration. In the 82nd minute, Al-Malki failed to control the ball right at the edge of the home team's penalty area. And Lewandowski did not miss the opportunity to score his first goal of this year's World Cup, at the same time sealing a 2-0 victory for Poland.

This is a very unfortunate defeat for Saudi Arabia. Because they played very well in this match, but were too bad at taking advantage of scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, for Poland, with 4 points/2 matches, they have a great chance to win a ticket to the next round. However, the situation in this group is still very complicated.

Line-up

Poland: Szczesny, Bereszynski, Kiwior, Glik, Bielik, Cash, Frankowski, Krychowiak, Zielinski (Kaminski, 63'), Milik (Piatek, 71'), Lewandowski.

Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Al Burayk (Al Ghannam, 65'), Al Bulayhi, Al Amri (Al Abid, 46', Bahbri, 90+4'), Abdulhamid, Al Malki (Al Obud, 85'), Kanno, Al Anjei, Al Dawsari, Al Shehiri (Al Dawsari, 86'), Al Buraikan.

Match statistics

According to Bongdaplus