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Poland 1-2 Slovakia – Euro 2020 Player Ratings

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After a hard-fought match in St. Petersburg Stadium, Slovakia gave the first surprise of the Euro 2020 vs Poland. We got the player ratings. 

Slovakia hoped they could make history tonight against Poland at St. Petersburg Stadium in Russia. Group E is one of the most difficult at the Euro 2020 with Sweden and Spain also forming part of it. On paper, Slovakia was the underdog of this sector and they needed to start with a bang. In front of them, Robert Lewandowski and company were ready for the challenge. Surprisingly, the Slovakian squad started off with a bang after a brilliant solo play from Robert Mak.

In his attempt to block the shot, Szczęsny wasn’t able to prevent the goal that came two minutes before the 20th-minute mark. Linetty managed to equalize the game after a combination with Rybus right after the second-half whistle. But the most important moment of the match came right after that. The Poland squad wasn’t expecting what was about to happen and neither did the Slovakia side.

Krychowiak gives Slovakia the edge. 

After Linetty’s goal, Poland started taking more risks in order to find the winning goal. However, the Slovakia squad was too well-organized on the defense. They didn’t allow much to happen inside their own box. There was a key moment in which Krychowiak committed a stupid foul that got him booked for a second time in the game. After getting sent off, this gave Slovakia the edge they needed in order to finish off the game.

Milan Skriniar was the hero of the evening after scoring the winning goal for the underdogs. Even though Poland attempted to score the equalizer and was very close to doing it, they couldn’t stop the inevitable. This defeat wasn’t in their plans but a victory wasn’t on Slovakia’s plans either. We all love a great underdog story like the one we witnessed today at St. Petersburg Stadium.

Player ratings

Poland: Szczęsny (4), Rybus (5), Glik (5), Bereszyński (6), Bednarek (5), Klich (6), Krychowiak (5), Zielinski (5), Linetty (7), Jozwiak (6), Lewandowski (5). 

Bench: Puchacz (6), Frankowski (5), Moder (5), Swiderski (5).

Slovakia: Dubravka (8), Hubocan (7), Pekarik (7), Satka (7), Skriniar (8), Hamsik (7), Kucka (7), Mak (8), Duda (7), Haraslin (7), Hromada (7). 

Bench: Koscelnik (7), Hrosovski (6), Suslov (6), Duris (6), Gregus (6).

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