Portugal Impress To Beat Poland 3-2

By Harry Morgan

Portugal put in a polished all-round display to coast past Poland 3-2 at the Stadion slaski in their second UEFA Nations League game on Thursday.

Fernando Santos’ men, who beat Italy at home in the opening game of the new competition, fell behind to Jerzy Brzeczek’s side courtesy Krzysztof Piatek’s 18th-minute header.

The Navigators ended the first half 2-1 on top with Andre Silva’s 31st-minute equaliser and Kamil Glik’s 43rd-minute own goal.

Bernardo Silva made it 3-1 in the 52nd minute, but Poland could not capitalize on Jakub Blaszczykowski‘s 77th-minute lifeline as the Eagles dropped points for the second time in the competition after drawing 1-1 with Italy in their opening fixture.

Portugal, who are playing without talisman and captain Cristiano Ronaldo,  top Group-3 with 6 points after two games, and are followed by Poland and Italy who have a point apiece.

Mario Rui teed up Andre Silva with a precision cross in the 7th minute, and the striker held off Jan Bednarek before shooting over the bar.

Poland found the net in the 18th minute when Krzysztof Piatek jumped the highest in the Poland box to connect his head to Rafal Kurzawa’s corner kick into the net as goalkeeper Rui Patricio complained of being fouled in the lead-up to the game.

Portugal took the game to the hosts after going down and grabbed a deserving equaliser in the 32nd minute with a superb finish from Andre Silva.

Pizzi played a fantastic through ball into the penalty box and found Andre Silva, who reacted quickly to get in front of the goal to fire a low shot into the net from close range.

Pizzi met a pass on the edge of the penalty box a minute later and shot feebly towards the bottom right corner for Fabianski to save it easily.

Referee Carlos Del Cerro showed Andreas Silva the first yellow card of the game in the 37th minute for a bad foul on Jan Bednarek, and Kamil Glik suffered a misfortune in the 43rd minute as he directed an intended clearance into his own net as Portugal turned the game on its head before halftime.

Ruben Neves ballooned a long searching pass from the centre circle to Andre Silva in the Poland penalty box. The Portugal striker’s control ended up dribbling the onrushing goalkeeper, and Glik’s diving clearance rather directed the ball into his own net.

Glik received a booking three minutes after the restart, and Bernardo Silva weaved through his way past opponents to unleash a magnificent effort from the edge of the box to the bottom left corner to make it 3-1 for the visitors.