MX23RW : Thursday, February 6 11:25:02| >> :600:5382363:5382363:

Poland 1-1 Greece

Poland 1-1 Greece
© PA Photos
Co-hosts Poland play out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Group A rivals Greece in the opening match of the European Championsip.

Co-hosts Poland have played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Group A rivals Greece in the opening match of the European Championship.

Both sides had a man sent off, while Greece saw a penalty saved in the National Stadium in Warsaw.

Rafal Murawski had an early chance for the hosts, but his drive was pushed out of play by Greece goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias.

It took about 15 minutes for Greece to get near the Polish goal as striker Fanis Gekas flick towards goal drifted 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 Robert Lewandowski, who headed home after Chalkias was caught in two minds from Jakub Blaszczykowski's cross.

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.

Greece's half got worse just before the whistle when Sokratis Papastathopoulos was given a dubious second yellow card for a soft foul on Murawski.

However, things started brightly for Greece after the break and they were level on 50 minutes when substitute Dimitris Salpingidis poked home after some indecision from the home defence.

The Greeks had a good to chance to go ahead on the hour, but Giorgios Samaras could only slice his effort over on the angle.

They were given a golden opportunity to take the lead with 20 minutes to go as Szczesny was shown a straight red card for bringing down the lively Salpingidis in the area for the penalty.

Giorgos Karagounis stepped to take the spot kick, but his low effort was saved by substitute keeper Przemyslaw Tyton.

Samaras fired high and wide late on, while Lewandowski put his shot marginally wide, although much of the Warsaw crowd thought that it was in.

ID:30191: cacheID:30191:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3138:
Written by
Jack Prescott
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Wojciech Szczesny
Read Next:
Half-Time Report: Poland 1-0 Greece
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool23175156213556
2Arsenal24148249222750
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest24145540271347
4Chelsea24127547311643
5Manchester CityMan City24125748351341
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle24125742291341
7Bournemouth24117641281340
8Aston Villa2410773437-337
9Fulham249963632436
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2481063538-334
11Brentford2494114242031
12Crystal Palace247982830-230
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2485112834-629
14Tottenham HotspurSpurs24831348371127
15West Ham UnitedWest Ham2476112946-1727
16Everton236892328-526
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2454153452-1819
18Leicester CityLeicester2445152553-2817
19Ipswich TownIpswich2437142249-2716
20Southampton2423191854-369


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!