Poland have finished the first half one goal to the good while Greece are one man down following an impressive 45 minutes from the co-hosts in the opening match of Euro 2012.
The co-hosts came close to snatching the breakthrough in the early stages of the first half through Lukasz Piszczek, who committed a surging run from the back trying to find Robert Lewandowski, but it was Rafal Murawski who grabbed the ball and hit a shot from 20 yards out. However, it was pushed out of play from Greece keeper Kostas Chalkias.
It took about 15 minutes for Greece to get near the Polish goal as striker Fanis Gekas received a lofty ball into the box, which the frontman tried to flick towards goal, but it eventually went wide.
Despite the Greeks' attempts to hold firm, it was the co-hosts who started to dominate the clash and took the lead in the 17th minute from their star striker Lewandowski, who appeared from nowhere to hammer home after Chalkias lost sight of the opposing frontman.
Poland kept the pressure up following their opening strike, while Greece continued to be lacklustre and rather desperate in their approach as Kostas Katsouranis tried a shot from distance that went far wide of goal.
Greece managed to get a free kick within the first half-hour of the opening half; the launched ball into the box was found by Gekas, but it was flicked wide without troubling Arsenal keeper Wojciech Sczcesny.
Avraam Papadopoulos was forced to leave the field 10 minutes before the end of the half and was replaced by the highly-rated 20-year-old Kyriagos Papadopoulos as Greece tried to force a way through after a dire 35 minutes.
Poland had the opportunity to make it 2-0 before the break through Lukasz Piszczek, but the right-back fired just wide.
The Greeks were served a bitter blow minutes before the half-time whistle after Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off for a second yellow for arguably a minimal challenge.
Danielle Joynson
