Poland 1 Greece 1: Szczesny nightmare with clanger then red card
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UPDATED:
18:41 GMT, 8 June 2012
Substitute goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton was the hero for Poland in a dramatic European Championship opener in Warsaw in which both sides finished with 10 men.
Tyton came off the bench in the second half for the co-hosts after Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had been sent off for bringing down Greek substitute Dimitris Salpigidis.
Spot of bother: Greece threw away three points in the Euro 2012 opener after Giorgos Karagounis saw his penalty saved
MATCH FACTS
POLAND: Szczesny, Piszczek, Wasilewski, Perquis, Boenisch, Murawski, Polanski, Blaszczykowski, Obraniak, Rybus (Tyton 70), Lewandowski. Subs not used: Sandomierski, Wojtkowiak, Kaminski, Dudka, Matuszczyk, Wawrzyniak, Sobiech, Mierzejewski, Wolski, Grosicki, Brozek.
Goals: Lewandoswki 17.
Sent off: Szczesny
GREECE: Chalkias, Torosidis, Papastathopoulos, Avraam Papadopoulos (Kyriakos Papadopoulos 37), Holebas, Maniatis, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Ninis (Salpingidis 46), Gekas (Fortounis 68), Samaras. Subs not used: Tzorvas, Tzavelas, Malezas, Makos, Liberopoulos, Mitroglou, Fotakis, Fetfatzidis, Sifakis.
Goals: Salpingidis 51.
Booked: Holebas
Sent off: Papastathopoulos
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain))
The reserve goalkeeper promptly saved
the resulting spot-kick from Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis to
ensure the points were shared in a wonderfully entertaining match in
Group A at the National Stadium.
Poland will be kicking themselves,
however, after throwing it away having gone in at half-time with a
one-goal lead and with Greece down to 10 men after defender Sokratis
Papastathopoulos was sent off harshly for two innocuous yellow cards.
The Poles, who began the game with swaggering intent in front their home fans, had dominated the first half.
It was no surprise when Robert
Lewandowski gave them the perfect start after 17 minutes, although the
goal had as much to do with the poor positioning of Greek goalkeeper
Kostas Chalkias as the sharpness of Lewandowski.
Chalkias found himself flapping his
arms in no man's land to leave the Borussia Dortmund striker, who scored
a hat-trick in the German cup final last month, to head home a swinging
cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski. It was no more than the Poles
deserved.
Seeing red: Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was dismissed for fouling Dimitris Salpingidis
They were hungrier, quicker to the
ball and seemingly desperate to prove that while they are the
lowest-ranked team in the tournament they have a realistic chance of
reaching the quarter finals at least.
In that 45 minutes the Greeks looked a
shadow of the organised side who had gained a reputation for being
tough to beat, having lost just one of 21 games under manager Fernando
Santos.
Net gains: Robert Lewandowski gave his side the lead inside 20 minutes with a header
In fact, the Poles would have been
kicking themselves that they were not further ahead at half-time after
Rafal Murawski, Maciej Rybus and Lewandowski all missed clear-cut
chances.
Damien Perquis should also have
scored when the ball fell to him in the penalty area but the Polish
defender, in unfamiliar territory, drilled his shot wildly wide of the
post.
Pure delight: Lewandowski's strike sent the host nation into raptures, both inside and outside the ground
It looked as if the Greeks' fortune had deserted them completely, however, when Papastathopoulos saw red just before half-time.
The Greek defender had become the
first player to be booked in the tournament when he received the yellow
card from Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo for what appeared an
harmless challenge with a Polish attacker.
Shock: Sokratis Papastathopoulos was harshly sent off by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo for two yellow cards
His second yellow was equally as
harsh when he was adjudged to have brought down Murawski. The referee,
however, produced red and Greece were down to 10 men and seemingly
heading to an opening defeat.
Perhaps fired up by the injustice the
Greeks, however, came out in the second half with more determination
and resolve and it paid off, even in they did have Szczesny to thank for
their equaliser.
Back in it: A mistake by Szczesny allowed Dimitris Salpigidis to poke his side back on level terms
Szczesny raced out of his goal
attempting to collect Vassilis Torosidis' right-wing cross but misjudged
it totally, allowing substitute Salpigidis to score from close-range.
The drama, however, was far from
finished and the teams were down to 10 players each after 70 minutes
when Szczesny endured a moment of madness, sticking out a leg to trip
Salpigidis in the penalty area.
Spotlight: The new National Stadium in Warsaw was a stunning arena for the match to take place, with all the traditional pre-tournament festivities
The resulting penalty was delayed
while PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Tyton came off the bench and Maciej Rybus
went off, but Tyton's first action was the most crucial of the match,
saving the tame spot-kick of Karagounis.
A point was probably a fair result. But what a dramatic way for Euro 2012 to begin.
