Lewandowski nets first World Cup goal to guide Poland past Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia started the game on top as they picked up where they left off in their 2-1 victory over Argentina. They went close to taking the lead inside the first 15 minutes when Szczęsny was called into action, after Mohamed Kanno rifled a shot towards the roof of the net.
However, it was Poland who took the lead against the run of play, as Saudi Arabia’s high line was exploited after some brilliant work from Lewandowski allowed him to find Piotr Zieliński, who fired into the roof of the net.
Poland’s lead was in danger just moments later though, when Krystian Bielik clumsily fouled Salah Al Shehri in the box to give the Green Falcons a penalty. The forward stepped up himself, only to see his penalty saved by Szczęsny, before the goalkeeper also saved his rebound effort to keep Poland in the lead.
In doing so, he also maintained his chances of becoming only the fourth different goalkeeper this century to keep a clean sheet in all three World Cup group games.
The balance of play didn’t change after the break, as Saudi Arabia continued to play on the front foot. They forced Szczęsny into a key save again early in the half, as he denied Al Shehri once more from close range, before the Polish defence managed to scramble the ball to safety.
Despite the Green Falcons’ dominance, Poland went close to grabbing a second as Arkadiusz Milik rattled the crossbar with a header, before Lewandowski hit the right post with his right-footed effort just moments later.
As the game entered the last ten minutes, Poland finally struck the killer blow, when the Saudis were caught trying to play out from the back. Lewandowski intercepted and placed the ball beyond the helpless Mohammed Al Owais in a one-on-one he was never going to lose, and the Eagles had three points in the bag.
While they laboured at times, Poland now sit top of Group C prior to Argentina’s later clash against Mexico. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia now head into the final game needing a win to secure a first-round of 16 berth since 1994.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
