Euro 2024 | Austria confirms that it has an exceptionally good team: 3-1 win against Poland

Poland didn’t start well against the Dutch team last Sunday either. Think of the enormous opportunities for Cody Gakpo in the first minutes. But against all odds, the team of national coach Michal Probierz then took the lead with their ultimate weapon: after 16 minutes it was 1-1 through Adam Buska. Now the poor start of the Poles was also punished with a goal. First there was a poor throw-in from ex-PSV player Philipp Mwene. Then, in the rematch, his cross to Feyenoord player Gernot Trauner was more than excellent. The same could be said of the centre-back’s header.

It became more of a match because the attacking triangle Piątek-Buska-Zielinski could be put into position by the midfield. The latter struck hard in the 17th minute, and his effort disappeared against the Austrian hand of Phillipp Mwene. The VAR and referee Halil Umut Meler saw nothing in it. Once again it was a corner kick that led to the goal. The deflected ball from the corner ended up against goalscorer Trauner. Krzysztof Piątek did not hesitate and shot the ball hard behind Patrick Pentz from the rebound. In the remainder of the first half, Poland actually deserved to take the lead. Zielinski was close again but hit the strong goalkeeping Pentz.

In the 59th minute, when Austria had the upper hand, there was the moment that all of football-loving Poland was looking forward to. Robert Lewandowski made his first minutes at this European Championship. But Austria was far from shocked by this and continued to produce beautiful attacks. What’s called: Christoph Baumgartner found himself alone in front of goalkeeper Pentz after a very clever switch from Arnautovic. The Polish defenders stood there and watched. Nothing stood in the way of the Leipzig midfielder from making it 1-2 for Austria.

Actually, Lewandowski couldn’t do anything. His only ‘feat’ was a yellow card. Poland took more risks and advanced in the Austrian half. From an Austrian counterattack, Marko Arnautović was brought down by Szczęsny. Although the subsequent penalty was a very heavy penalty. Marko Arnautović did not fail from the spot and scored international goal 35. The Austrians played out the match in a controlled and decisive manner. It was more like waiting for a 1-4 than a 2-3. But Poland was spared that. Konrad Laimer was able to slide into an empty goal, but the ball disappeared just wide.