It could be assumed that Monday would be the day when our players would not hit the Scots goal. It looked like some sort of fate or witchcraft. Craig Gordon defended well or was lucky. But after what Kamil Piątkowski did, it seemed that nothing would threaten Poland anymore. Until added time came, the rivals fought until the end and made their dreams come true.
The Scots felt confident in Warsaw. The rivals announced that they came to the National Stadium to win. They believed in it especially after defeating Croatia at home (1-0). The local journalists began to calculate how the Islanders could still take second place in the group. Local fans, who had been flying to Warsaw since Saturday, also had a long weekend in the capital. There were several thousand of them in the stands of the stadium and they were having a great time.
From the beginning of the match, it was the guests who made the better impression. Michał Probierz’s team looked very chaotic in defense, but it still looked passable from the front.
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The Poles started bravely. Sebastian Szymański had a great opportunity to score in the first minute. He received a long pass but mishandled the ball. He was thrown to the side of the penalty area, although he was in a clear position. The midfielder saved himself by passing a pass to Jakub Kamiński, but the opponents interrupted the action.
Poles gave hope that they would not take their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon. And a moment later, a minute later, they were already losing. The Scots carried out a beautiful action. Billy Gilmour played perpendicularly to Lyndon Dykes, who withdrew the ball near the fourteenth meter. John McGinn had a lot of space and defeated Łukasz Skorupski with a calm, technical ground shot.
McGinn was again able to make his characteristic “party”, i.e. glasses made from hands. After this action, it was difficult to look at our team optimistically, through rose-colored glasses. This result eliminated Poland from division A of the Nations League.
Outside viewers might have liked the match, it was very open. After the Scots had the advantage, Michał Probierz’s players took the floor. Kamiński made a nice move on the right side of the pitch, took a shot with his left foot, but hit the ball badly. Later, Karol Świderski missed several opportunities. He wasted a one-on-one opportunity by hitting the side netting when the fans were already shouting ‘goal’.
The attacker also spoiled the action after a good play by Piotr Zieliński. He did everything as he should until the shot. He took the ball over the top but hit goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
The Scots were able to fight back. While our team looked decent from the front, the defenders’ legs were shaking from the back after each long play of the rivals. The Polish team was terrified once by Gilmour and once by Dykes. After the first shot, the fans froze. Gilmour took a shot from outside the penalty area and hit the crossbar. The ball went out into the field and almost bounced off Skorupski. We were very lucky.
In a moment, Scott McTominay outplayed Sebastian Walukiewicz, sprinted past Jakub Kiwior and was in a clear position. However, Skorupski stopped the Napoli player. The same player scared our team again just before the break. He took advantage of the passive attitude of the Polish defenders and another misunderstanding. He took a shot and hit the post.
The Islanders could have led higher, but they were ineffective. Just like Poles. Just before the break, Adam Buksa wasted another chance with a shot from a few meters. A few minutes later, Kamiński was on the left side and nicely ran inside with the ball. His shot was slightly off target.
The Wolfsburg player had good moments, especially when he changed positions with Nicola Zalewski. At the beginning of the second part, Kamiński attacked again, but was stopped by Gordon.
After our players were not doing well offensively, Kamil Piątkowski suddenly appeared. Zieliński gave him the ball to shoot, and the defender, who returned to the national team after three years, made an immediate decision. He took a big run-up and hit with all his strength. He hit it perfectly. The ball went into the goal window and Gordon could only applaud it.
This result gave the team third place and a place in the play-offs to remain in the A division of the Nations League. From that moment on, the match was no longer so open, and the guests had the best situation. Dykes won the header duel, he was already happy with the goal, but Skorupski stopped the clock and made a brilliant intervention. He jumped into the air and bounced the ball to the side.
Polish players thought that nothing bad would happen to them anymore. But the long throw-in in added time was like a knockout blow. Andy Robertson won the header duel with Zalewski and defeated Łukasz Skorupski with a strong shot, knocking the Polish team out of the A division of the Nations League.
The players were booed, and the Scots continued to sing at the National Stadium long after the match.
Poland – Scotland 1:2 (0:1)
0:1 – John McGinn 3′
1:1 – Kamil Piatkowski 59′
1:2 – Andy Robertson 90′
Poland: Łukasz Skorupski, – Kamil Piątkowski, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Jakub Kiwior – Jakub Kamiński (63′ Tymoteusz Puchacz, Jakub Moder (46′ Bartosz Slisz), Sebastian Szymański, Piotr Zieliński, Nicola Zalewski – Karol Świderski (75′ Kacper Urbański), Adam Buksa .
Scotland: Craig Gordon – Anthony Ralston (76′ Nicky Devlin), John Souttar, Grant Hanley, Andrew Robertson – Ben Doak (66′ Ryan Christie), Billy Gilmour (87′ Stuart Armstrong), Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay (76′ Ryan Gauld), John McGinn – Lyndon Dykes (66′ Lawrence Shankland).
Judge: Christian Dingert (Germany).
Yellow cards: Zieliński – McLean, Christie, McGinn.
