Three Lions finally roar after Lewandowski wonderstrike

LAST 16

England 2 – 1 Poland
                          Lewandowski 40’
Kane 52’
Rashford 55’

Michael Grew
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
Monday 29th June

Monday saw the third instalment of last-16 matches at Euro 2020, with England and Poland meeting in Copenhagen to battle for the chance to travel to a quarter final in St Petersburg to face France or Turkey, who kick off in this evening’s fixture. Copenhagen’s Parken stadium has already hosted three group stage matches, and the locals seemed determined to bid farewell to the travelling football circus in style, with free open air concerts provided and enormous beer tents erected around the city centre. England fans were enjoying their first taste of this one-off Europe-wide tournament structure, having played all their matches up to now in the home comforts of Wembley. The Polish fans, on the other hand, are seasoned pros by now, having travelled from Dublin to Bilbao and back to Dublin again before today. One fan joked that if Robert Lewandowski kept scoring he would have to start forking out for fans’ travel costs, with the Polish hero on four goals so far. However, despite Lewandowski’s best efforts, this was to prove the end of the road for a brave Polish side, while England look towards the next round with renewed confidence.

Much had been made of the fact that England were finally playing away from familiar surroundings, but, in truth, Parken stadium may feel more like home than Wembley to many of Southgate’s men. Fellow reporter Eamonn Foster has already commented on the compact (with a capacity of 38,000 easily the smallest stadium in the championships) stadium’s likeness to Anfield, and the raucous atmosphere at kickoff made the game feel more like an FA Cup tie than an international fixture. The game began in a similar vein too, with frantic exchanges from both teams hoping to gain an early advantage.

England, bolstered by the return of both Joe Gomez at the back and Marcus Rashford up ront, came out of the blocks at pace, with the Manchester United forward unlucky to see an effort flash wide in the opening few minutes. Poland had made changes of their own to the side which lost against Sweden, Arkadiusz Reca dropped after his early error in Dublin, with the experienced Maciej Rybus replacing him.

As the half progressed, both teams looked to be comfortable on the ball, Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain linking up well at one end, while Kamil Grosicki and Sebastien Szymanski kept the English defenders on their toes. It was the Poles, however, who registered the cleanest cut chance of the opening half hour, when a ball from Szymanski reached Grosicki on the edge of the area. The West Brom striker turned and shot first time, seeing his effort dipping under the bar, but Jordan Pickford arched his back and managed to turn the effort onto his crossbar and out for a corner. The Polish fans roared their team on, but the corner was ultimately cleared by Harry Maguire.

In the 40th minute, this Polish pressure finally paid off. Grosicki found himself on the ball in a similar position to his early chance but, rather than turning and shooting, he laid it off to Lewandowski, around 25 yards out. The Bayern Munich striker met the ball first time with the inside of his right boot curling the effort into the top corner of Pickford’s net. The 31 year old is playing with real confidence at the moment, and this sumptuous finish was certainly the pick of his goals in this tournament, perhaps one of his career best. However, as the Polish team rushed away to celebrate with their fans, they couldn’t know that this would be their last shot on target as England turned the game around in the second half.

Though unchanged, England came out for the second half looking far more assured than they had done towards the end of the first. The Polish midfield found that they were no longer allowed time on the ball to build the moves which had created such danger earlier, with Grzegorz Krychowiak, as well as Szymanski, being closed down quickly in the centre. This harrying paid off in the 52nd minute, as a wayward pass from an under pressure Szymanski fell to Sterling. He surged down the wing to the byline before pulling the ball back into the 6 yard box where Harry Kane lay in wait. The ball appeared to take a slight deflection off Jan Bednarek’s boot before reaching Kane, robbing him of a clean connection, but nevertheless the ball bobbled across the goal line, with Wojciech Szczęsny desperately clawing it back too late.

At this, the noise level in the stadium increased exponentially. England fans, fearing a return of the early knock-out exits they are so accustomed to, had seemed subdued over half time, but they were now in full voice, willing the white and blue shirts of England forward. The players responded, and in short order had taken the lead as Poland reeled from this change in gear.

Sterling was, once again, central to the move, linking up with Oxlade-Chamberlain in a neat one-two to set the Liverpool man running at the Polish central defence. Oxlade-Chamberlain then slid the ball through to Rashford who took only one touch from 12 yards out to dink the ball over the sprawled Szczęsny and into the Polish net. Suddenly, it was party time for England and the fans danced delightedly. Footage of Lewandowski’s wincing face appeared on the big screens and added to the England fans’ merriment. Could the centre-forward be the saviour of Polish fortunes once more?

It appeared in the 75th minute that the answer was yes. A cross from the left by substitute Jakub Błaszczykowski was met by Lewandowski, who headed the ball beyond Pickford, sparking delirium on the Polish bench. It was short-lived, however, as replays showed that Błaszczykowski’s foot had strayed offside in the build up. This scare led to Southgate removing the now tiring Rashford to a standing ovation, and opting for a strengthened backline, with Tyrone Mings drafted into the now 5 man defence. Although this move did result in some hairy moments in the final 15 minutes, as Poland piled on the pressure, it ultimately worked, as England saw out the final moments professionally to ensure safe passage to Russia next week.

The Polish fans applauded their team off at the end, and there was no shortage of plaudits from pundits and fans alike. They appreciated their team’s efforts and, although regretful that the adventure has come to an end, they must be proud of some of the football they’ve witnessed, not least the fantastic victory against Spain in Bilbao. England will feel that, on their day, they are as dangerous as any team in the competition, and will be especially heartened to see Kane on the score sheet at last. They will surely hope that his recovery continues into the quarter final on Saturday.

Man of the Match: Raheem Sterling