Slovakia pulled off an upset victory over Poland in their European Championship group stage match last night, thanks to Milan Skriniar’s second half match-winner.
The Inter Milan central defender showed goalscoring instincts that any world-class striker would be proud of, as he ensured that Slovakia started their EURO 2020 campaign with a 2-1 win over 10-man Poland.
The Slovaks led first through a Wojciech Szcezsny own goal in the first half, but Poland dragged themselves level via a strike from Karol Linetty early in the second half.
Grzegorz Krychowiak’s second booking of the afternoon around the hour mark meant that the Poles would have to survive the rest of the match with ten men.
It hardly seemed like an easy task against a team as resilient as the Slovaks, and their pressure eventually caused the breakthrough.
It was from a corner in the 69th minute that Slovakia would regain their lead in the match, as Robert Mak swung in a corner from the right flank which was flicked on at the near post by their captain and talisman Marek Hamsik.
It was Skriniar who controlled the ball with a very neat first touch near the centre of the area, but his second touch was even more impressive, as he expertly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal – Szcezsny in goal had no chance.
Not only was his positioning incredible, but also the calm expertise with which Skriniar found the back of the net was immaculate – especially considering that his area of dominance is at the other end of the pitch.
Skriniar played his part to keep the in-form Robert Lewandowski quiet in front of goal, while also scoring himself – goals don’t come too easy and too often for the big Slovak, but he made sure that he made it count on the biggest stage of European football. Check it out below –
