Poland 1-2 Senegal
Senegal beat high-ranked Poland in front of a capacity crowd in Moscow, thanks to a lucky deflection and some kamikaze defending from the Poles.
In a game admittedly short on quality, the Africans were full of running and deserved their win. Meanwhile, defeat leaves Adam Nawalka’s team’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.
Group H is the toughest to call at FIFA 2018, and the next round of games will be just as close. A late consolation for Poland will at least give Nawalka something to work with.
Winning Coach Aliou Cisse was Senegal’s captain when they first played in a World Cup tournament back in 2002, and he was bursting with pride at the final whistle.
So we have a full set of FIFA 2018 results in now. Every team has played once and we’ve already had some surprises. This wasn’t a major shock as Senegal has plenty of talent, but on this evidence, you won’t see too many SBOBET tips heading Poland’s way any time soon!
Highlights of the game
In a game littered with talent, the first half-hour or so was largely underwhelming with very little goalmouth action. If anything, Senegal looked the livelier team, getting the ball down the flanks to Sadio Mane and Ismaila Sarr quickly in an attempt to stretch the Polish defence.
The Poles were the first to come close when Grzegorz Krychowiak’s wild effort turned into a cross, and Piotr Zielinski bulleted a header just over.
Then, on 37 minutes, Senegal went ahead thanks to a slice of luck. Mane squared for Idrissa Gueye whose shot took a wicked deflection off Thiago Cionek and flew into the net. Much to Gueye’s disappointment, the experienced defender was credited with the own goal.
Mane should really have made it two before halftime, rising to direct a header just wide, but a one-goal lead was just about as much as Senegal deserved at the break.
Poland are ranked eighth in the world by FIFA, compared to Senegal who are at 27th, but they weren’t playing like a top-ten side. Neither team had played with much ambition in the first half, though Senegal looked sharp at least.
Nawalka had some work to do at halftime and the signs were better early on when Lewandowski burst through the midfield to be chopped down by Salif Sane who received a yellow card for his troubles. The FC Bayern man took the free-kick and brought a good save from keeper Khadim N’Diaye.
That sparked a Senegalese response as Mane met a cross on the volley to see his shot blocked.
Poland continued to try to find a way back in the game and had a chance when Maciej Rybus hung a lovely cross up for Lukasz Piszczek at the far post. However, the full-back’s shot went tamely wide.
And then came the moment of madness that gifted Senegal a second. Krychowiak hoofed the ball back towards his own defence who watched as Wojciech Szczesny charged 30 yards out of his box, leaving a grateful M’Baye Niang the simplest of tasks in sliding the ball into an empty net.
That catastrophe left Poland with half an hour to salvage something from the wreckage, and they took most of that up before pulling a goal back on 85 minutes. Kamil Grosicki’s long ball forward was headed in by Krychowiak to set up a lively last few minutes. But it was all too little, too late.
Key Statistics
Well, this was Senegal’s first appearance since reaching the last eight in 2002 and it was the first meeting between these two sides. Also, it’s Poland’s first appearance at the finals since 2006.
The FIFA 2018 betting markets suggest that both these teams have enough to progress to the knockout stages, but on the evidence of this, I don’t fancy Poland’s chances.
They have never previously been beaten by African opponents in the World Cup, but Poland haven’t kept a clean sheet in nine World Cup games now.
What’s next?
Next up in Group H, Senegal meet fellow outsiders (before today) Japan who beat Colombia, thanks to a second-half Yuya Osako header. But it was another game full of controversy after Colombia had fought back from a goal deficit.
Poland must face a Colombia side which will be burning with anger after going down to ten men after just three minutes, when Carlos Sanchez was sent off for hand ball. That game is going to be a real battle.
But tonight belongs to Senegal. Cisse is the lowest paid manager at Russia 2018. I’d give him a rise!
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