Spain’s new European Championship nightmare – only got a draw against Poland

Two questioned strikers were in focus when Spain and Poland clashed at the Estadio de La Cartuja arena in Seville.

The first to silence his critics was Alvaro Morata. The 28-year-old has been both mocked and insulted in his home country due to his inability to take advantage of his goal chances – but in the 25th minute the ball sat where it should.

Played by Gerard Moreno, Morata hit the ball from close range behind goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The assistant referee first raised his flag for offside – but a VAR check later it was clear that the Spaniard had been on the right side of the Polish defensive line and the goal was thus approved.

Equally predominant ball possession and strong dominance as in the home meeting with Sweden, however, it was not. Poland did not lack chances to equalize and were extremely close just before half time. This when Karol Swiderski hit the post and world striker Robert Lewandowski failed to put the rebound after a fine save from Unai Simon.

The missed opportunity was a new reminder of how icy Lewandowski has been in the national team jersey in recent years. An incredible 41 goals in 29 matches were scored by Bayern Munich last season, but in the championship context he has only been listed for two hits.

But then in the 54th minute Lewandowski also got redress. With a fairly hard little push, he got midfielder Aymeric Laporte off balance and was able to nod in 1-1 on the post from Kamil Jozwiak.

Just minutes later Gerard Moreno, however, got the chance to give Spain the lead back when he arranged penalties for the home team. The striker himself stepped forward to put the ball in goal, but did not aim better than he hit the post.

Returns? It missed Morata badly – and with seven minutes left in the game, he gave, despite his goal in the first half, his detractors additional water on his mill. The Juventus striker was given a completely free shooting position from close range but was stopped by club teammate Szczesny who made a huge save.

There were no more goals in the match, which means that a pressured Spain must win in the last match at home against Slovakia to be sure of promotion.

At the same time, the result means that Sweden is still number one and has the group victory in its own hands before the final match against Poland on Wednesday.

Read more:

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