Disappointing draw for England in Warsaw

GLIK prevents England taking three points in Warsaw as England where held to a 1-1 draw against Poland on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite remaining top of Group H in the 2014 World Cup qualifying stages, Roy Hodgson will be disappointed with his side’s performance who struggled to take a hold of the game.  The postponed fixture clearly affected the England players, as they didn’t seem to be at the races and will surely count themselves lucky to be coming away with a point.

The home nation started the brighter of the two teams, managing to dominate the game from an early stage. Sloppy play from the visitors allowed Poland a vast amount of chances at goal, Wawrzyniak trying the spectacular from distance but his effort went well over. Lewandowski then tried twice to give his side the lead; his first effort went embarrassingly wide for a throw in, the second being cleared away by Joe Hart. England on the other hand, never really had any clear cut chances in the first 45 minutes. Hopeful long range efforts from Gerrard and Cleverley, failed to pose any real threat to Tyton’s goal as England found it hard to breakdown the Polish back four. 

But to much surprise it was Hodgson’s side that broke the deadlock. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney headed a well delivered corner from Gerrard (31’) to give his team the lead at half time. The 26 year old has now scored 32 goals for his country and has also converted three in his last two international games.

As the second half got under way, Poland again dominated play with early chances from Obraniak and Wszolek which forced the English number one into fine saves. Piszczek was next in line to test the Manchester City keeper who scrambled across his goal line, despite the shot going inches wide. With England struggling to find a way into the game, the manager brought on Danny Welbeck for Jermaine Defoe in the hope of a second goal that would clinch the three points. The young striker made an instant impact, as within seconds he was in the Polish penalty area causing havoc. After taking the ball away from Tyton, Welbeck squared the ball to his United teammate who was unmarked, but Rooney’s shot went well over. England rued their missed opportunity shortly after as Poland equalised through Glik. The Torino defender headed home an Obraniak corner to level the score at 1-1 with 20 minutes to play.

With both sides now in it for the win, each side had chances in the late stages to clinch a victory for their countries. Glik tried to score his second of the match in similar style, but his header went over that time around. Welbeck had England’s last real attempt on goal, but his glancing header also went wide and the final whistle followed shortly after to bring the game to a close at 1-1.

Poland probably deserved more out of the game as England were simply not good enough on the day. The postponement of Tuesday’s game, due to weather conditions, obviously affected the away players as they didn’t seem as enthusiastic when the game eventually went under way. Nevertheless a point is better than nothing as England remain at the top of Group H, whilst Poland are placed third. Hodgson continues his unbeaten record as England manager in normal time, with the exception of Italy (defeated on penalties), and so he will look to continue this against Sweden in a friendly midway through November.

Quays News Man of the Match: Lewandowski – The Borussia Dortmund striker, was very influential in Poland’s attempts at goal. He linked up well with Obraniak and Wszolek in several attempts, and despite not getting on the score sheet, he certainly could have.

Poland: Tyton (6), Piszczek (6), Wasilewski (6), Wawrzyniak (6), Glik (8), Polanski (6), Krychowiak (6), Wszolek (6) (Mierzejewski 5, 63’), Grosicki (6) (Milik 5, 82’) Obraniak (7) (Borysiuk 5, 90’) Lewandowski (7).

Unused Subs: Kuszczak, Wojtkowiak, Komorowski, Murawski, Sobota, Piech, Perquis, Sobiech, Skorupski.

Booked: Polanski, Glik

England: Hart (6), Glen Johnson (6), Jagielka (6), Lescott (6), Cole (6), Milner (7), Carrick (4), Gerrard (6), Cleverley (5), Rooney (6) (Oxlade-Chamberlain 6, 67’), Defoe (5) (Welbeck 6, 67’).

Unused Subs: Ruddy, Walker, Baines, Cahill, Shawcross, Shelvey, Lennon, Adam Johnson, Carroll, Forster.

Booked: Cole

Liam McCallion