Poland dig in to take a point against Spain
A spirited performance from Jan Bednarek’s Poland earned them a 1-1 draw with Spain, keeping their hopes of progression from Group E alive.
Having failed to turn their monopoly on possession into goals against Sweden in their Group E opener on Monday, Spain were more productive in Seville.
Denied early on – with Bednarek snuffing out a number of attacks as part of a back three – the deadlock was eventually broken on 25 minutes when Álvaro Morata converted from close range, helped by VAR overruling an initial offside decision.
Knowing a second group stage loss would end any hopes of progressing to the Last 16, Paulo Sousa’s side rallied and should’ve found an equaliser before the break.
After Karol Świderski’s sublime long-range effort came back off the post, a collective intake of breath was made inside Estadio La Cartuja as the rebound fell to Poland’s talisman Robert Lewandowski, only for the Bayern Munich striker to squander the opportunity by firing straight at goalkeeper Unai Simón.
Perhaps feeling the need to make amends, the striker made no mistake 10 minutes after the restart when he drew Poland level, expertly heading home Kamil Jóźwiak’s pinpoint cross.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, the pendulum of momentum looked to have swung back in Spain’s favour when VAR awarded them a penalty just three minutes later, only for Gerard Moreno to fire at the base of the post with Morata’s instinctive rebounded effort flying wide.
With Bednarek withdrawn after a noteworthy 85 minutes, his teammates completed the job to earn a share of the spoils and setup a tense final group match encounter with Sweden on Wednesday, where only a win will do if reaching the Last 16 is to be achieved.
