Poland cruise past Andorra with ease as Matty Cash earns his debut for the White and Reds

After a slight concern that saw Andorra score from a free-kick, Poland were able to hold onto their dominant lead and claim a play-off spot.

The White and Reds were able to secure a play-off place after England’s commanding victory against Albania saw them top Group I in the World Cup Qualifiers with one game to go.

Paulo Sousa’s side were rarely troubled by the hosts as the only shot on target was the free-kick goal at the end of the first half.

However, after a few seconds of the match, Andorra were down to 10 men as Ricard Fernández was shown red for elbowing Kamil Glik in the face.

From that point on, the Tricolours faced an uphill battle and recorded a shot after Ludovic Clemente looked to chip Wojciech Szczesny from range but the goalkeeper retreated back to claim a simple catch.

In the fifth minute, the deadlock was broken. Kamil Jozwiak’s pass found its way through to Robert Lewandowski who tucked the ball into the bottom corner to give Poland the lead.

The pressure continued to mount on the Andorrans as Jozwiak doubled Poland’s lead. Przemyslaw Frankowski found the winger at the back post and he had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net from close range.

After the second goal, clear cut chances were hard to come by as Iker Álvarez held his own and made some good saves, especially when denying Mateusz Klich from close range in the 14th minute.

Poland continued to create chances but were unable to hit the target as Andorra stunned them on the stroke of half-time. A genius free-kick from Joan Cervós avoided everyone in the box before coming off of Marc Vales who claimed the goal which reduced the White and Reds’ advantage.

Andorra’s happiness was short-lived however as Arkadiusz Milik marked his return to the national team with a goal. The forward pounced on Lewandowski’s miscontrol to restore Poland’s two-goal cushion in added time of the first half.

In the second half, the visitors continued their search for goals and they had the ball in the back of the net just before the hour mark. A brilliant pass found Milik through on goal as he rounded Alvarez to slot the ball into an empty net but his goal was ruled out due to the forward being in an offside position.

The hotly anticipated debut of Matty Cash followed as the defender came onto the pitch in the 63rd minute to replace Frankowski.

He looked to make an immediate impact with his fantastic overlapping runs and deliveries into the box as Poland searched for their fourth goal of the evening.

Cash’s first highlight of note was a delivery from the right side as he looked to find a teammate in white and red, but in the end, Alvarez claimed the ball with ease.

Poland made it 4-1 in the 73rd minute as Piotr Zielinski’s cross found Lewandowski at the front post with the forward scoring his second goal of the game.

Sousa’s men held onto their lead until the end of the match and claimed a vital three points that have secured them a play-off spot.

The White and Reds’ play their final game of the World Cup Qualifiers on Monday as they take on Hungary at the PGE Narodowy.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”15″ heading=”Internationals” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”1072″ heading=”News” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[/columns]