Poland put on a finishing clinic as they beat Albania at the PGE Narodowy

Paulo Sousa’s men showed their clinical edge by scoring four past Albania’s goalkeeper Etrit Berisha, but you can’t necessarily read too much into the scoreline with the visitors more often than not holding their own.

The White and Reds didn’t play to the highest standard as clear defensive mistakes showed, however, the hosts proved that the only stat that matters are the goals scored as they went on to win 4-1 yesterday evening.

Albania were sat above Poland in Group I, and with Hungary playing England, it was a chance for either side to move into second place.

Fouls were flying in left right and centre as referee Maurizio Mariani handed out three yellow cards to the visitors inside the first 15 minutes.

The deadlock was broken in the 12th minute through the ever-present Robert Lewandowski. The forward was in the right place at the right time as he headed the ball into the back of the net beyond a stranded Berisha.

After Poland gained the lead, Albania grew into the game and played some fantastic football as they looked to cut the hosts’ defence open.

That pressure paid off for the Eagles as they levelled the match in the 25th minute. Klaus Gjasula sent a delightful ball over Kamil Glik and into the path of Sokol Cikalleshi who put the ball past Wojciech Szczesny into the bottom right corner from a tight angle.

Rey Manaj had two very good chances to beat Szczesny and give Albania the lead, but Poland’s shot-stopper made good saves to deny the forward on both attempts.

Just before half-time, on his international debut for Poland, Adam Buksa directed his header into the goal after a perfect cross from Przemyslaw Frankowski to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

From the start of the second half, Albania continued their attacking nature as Berat Djimsiti fired a volley from long range that narrowly missed the target.

Not long after that, the hosts scored their third through Grzegorz Krychowiak. The midfielder had the easy job of tapping the ball in from close range, but Lewandowski did all the work to create the goal. Poland’s all-time record goalscorer used his strength to get ahold of the ball and make a darting run into the box. He weaved past Berisha and squared the ball for Krychowiak to finish at the back post.

Substitute Karol Linetty scored Poland’s fourth in the 89th minute as fellow substitute Karol Swiderski played a neat ball into the path of the midfielder who fired the ball into the goal.

With this win, the White and Reds move up to second place in Group I with the Eagles dropping down to fourth. Poland now face San Marino on Sunday at the San Marino Stadium with Albania taking on Hungary on the same day at the Arena Kombëtare.

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