Poland beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Saturday to take the lead in Group C at Qatar 2022. In this match Roberto Lewandowski shed tears of joy scoring his first goal in the World Cup.
Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring in the 39th minute and Lewandowski scored in the 82nd minute after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved a Saudi penalty at the Education City stadium.
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Poland lead with 4 points, followed by Saudi Arabia with 3 points, with Mexico (1) and Argentina (0) waiting for an important night out.
Lewandowski, who also assisted Zielinski’s goal, scored his first goal in five appearances in two World Cup appearances, removing the thorn of a penalty error on his debut against Mexico (0 – 0), feeling happy and relieved. Wrapped.
Poland have a chance to seal their first pass to the Round of 16 since 1986, heading into a busy final day in the group against Argentina.
Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (center-right) celebrates after saving a penalty against Saudi Arabia during a World Cup Group C match in Layan, Qatar, Saturday, November 26, 2022. (AP/AIJAZ) RAHI)
After defeating Messi’s Argentina in their debut match, Saudi Arabia brought a big surprise to the tournament and were desperate for a win that would automatically advance them to the last 16.
However, the ‘Greenhawks’ slammed into goalkeeper Szczesny, negating a number of chances including a double save from a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time.
Saudi fans, overjoyed at their feat against Argentina, filled the stands and gave the players a big round of applause as they stepped out for the win that guaranteed them a place in the round of 16 for the first time since 1994. .
13 minutes
Thirteen minutes later, Mohamed Kanno gave Szczesny his first try with a shot from close range into an area the goalkeeper was struggling to clear with one hand.
In a tense first 20 minutes, Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio showed up to four yellow cards. His one of them was given to Saudi Abdulella Al-Malki.
In direct football, Poland tried to break through the wing to hang the ball on Lewandowski.
A counter-attack produced the first Polish goal. Matty Cash ran from the right and crossed to Lewandowski. Instead of shooting, Lewandowski touched the goalkeeper and passed to Zielinski for the finish.
The talented midfielder, who shines in the Italian league alongside leaders Napoli, celebrated his 10th goal with the national team.
Szczesny Savior
The goal didn’t change the dynamic of the game and Saudi Arabia went down in the area in the 45th minute when Bielik hit Al Shehri from behind.
The penalty, awarded after a VAR review, fell into the hands of captain Salem Al-Dawsari, heroes who scored the stunning winning goal against Argentina.
In a spectacular double save, Szczesny flew in with a spectacular dive to clear Salem’s shot and come in time to deflect Mohammed Al Blaik’s second try.
After the break, the Juventus goalkeeper saved Poland again by clearing another shot from Salem after a ruckus in the area.
A cornered Poland shrugged off Saudi Arabia’s dominance and shot to the post almost continuously to close to 2-0.
Juventus striker Arkadiusz Milik, who was a novelty in the starting line-up, was the first to head a serve from the left flank to the crossbar in the 63rd minute.
And just two minutes later, Lewandowski was in front of the goalkeeper’s goal, but his shot from the knee also hit the post.
“Levandowski, who was probably struggling to shine in his last World Cup, took advantage of Abdulelah Al-Malki’s poor control in front of the Saudi Arabian box to find a goal, steal the ball from him and make it one-on-one. Finished in 1 match in cold blood.
With more than 600 goals in his extraordinary career, the Barcelona striker couldn’t get emotional hiding his face on the pitch for a few seconds surrounded by his teammates.
The Poles still had another chance to expand his account against Saudi Arabia, which is already waiting for Mexico on Wednesday for the last day of a heart attack.
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