Poland suffer defeat in Euro opener
Poland suffered a shock 2-1 defeat in their opening UEFA Euro 2020 fixture, with Slovakia claiming victory in Group E.
Southampton’s Jan Bednarek was named in the starting XI and played the full 90 minutes at Saints Petersburg Stadium.
Slovakia took the lead in the first-half through a wonderful solo effort from Robert Mak.
Poland came out fighting after the break, equalising just 30 seconds after the action resumed with Karol Linetty the goal scorer.
Just as Poland began to assert their dominance in the game, a second yellow card for Grzegorz Krychowiak meant Paulo Sousa's team were reduced to 10-men upon 62 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Slovakia to monopolise on their extra man advantage, with Milan Skriniar firing a wonderful shot into the back of the net to regain the lead.
With 90 minutes already played and the fixture into injury time, Bednarek came inches away from drawing Poland level but it wasn’t to be for the Saints’ defender.
Poland now travel to La Cartuja Stadium to face Spain on Saturday 19 June, 8pm BST, then returning to Saint Petersburg Stadium to bring their Group E campaign to an end on Wednesday 23 June, 5pm BST.
