Celebrated a great victory against Polandtaking the most important step to qualify for the knockouts of Euro 2024 Austria!
Ralf Rangnick’s team was superior for most of the match, taking an early lead (9′) with Traunerwhile even though he equalized in the 30th minute with his own goal Piontechmanaged to find two more goals in the second half, with Baumgartner (66′) and Arnautovic (with a penalty in 78′), taking the win with 3-1!
Thus, the Austrians remain alive in the hunt for qualification from the 4th group, having three points and waiting to face the Netherlands for the last matchday, while Poland experienced its second defeat and was eliminated for good, after the draw between “oranie” and French.
The match
The match started with Austria taking the “reins” from the first minutes, constantly having the ball at their feet and managing to open the scoring in the first good chance they created in front of Széni’s goal, in the 9th minute. Muene found space and crossed from the left, with Trauner making the move to the far post and sending the ball into the net with a superb header!
Thus, the Austrians took advantage of their very good start, taking an early lead, while the Poles settled for a passive role in the first quarter of the match. Probjerg’s side showed… signs of life in the 17th minute when their forwards broke into their opponents’ box for the first time, with Zielinski’s shot stopping at Muene. The Poles called for a penalty for handball, but the referees saw no foul, while a minute later (18′), Frankovski took the turn from the right and Zalewski found himself unmarked in an advantageous position, but he shot too high.
With Austria’s possession hovering around 65%, Poland noticeably improved their performance after 25 minutes, getting closer to their opponents’ penalty area more often. In the 27th minute, Linhart intervened with a header, keeping away a threatening long-range shot by Piotrowski, while in the 29th minute, the Freiburg defender declared himself “present” again, clearing a very dangerous shot by Frankowski into a corner. Finally, Poland managed to equalize in the 30th minute when, after a period of time that developed in front of Austria’s box, a first-time shot by Bednarek from a very good position was stopped by Trauner, but then Piontek was in the right place at the right time, placing correctly from close range and making it 1-1!
Austria responded in the 39th minute when, after a quick counter-attack, Sabitzer broke into the box, brought the ball onto his right foot, but was unable to beat Szézny, who threatened again in the 42nd minute with a long-range shot. of the shot to go just past the right crossbar. In the last phase of the first half, Penz had an answer to a beautiful direct free-kick from Zielinski.
The game was even after both teams returned from the dressing room, with Austria threatening first in the 52nd minute when, following a Wimmer corner, Pöss caught a weak header that was comfortably blocked by Szézny, while seconds later Piontek tried long shot, sending the ball high out.
In the 60th minute, Probierz changed his attacking duo, replacing Piontek and Buksa with Lewandowski and Shwiderski, but it was Austria who managed to regain the lead in the 67th minute, when after a perfect ball movement, a pass by Pras and an exemplary Arnautovic’s feint, Baumgartner found space and slotted home for 2-1!
Poland came close to responding immediately, with Penz barely keeping out a threatening shot from Świdderski in the 69th minute, while in the 75th minute Szézny also had an answer to a curling shot from Wimmer. Austria eventually sealed victory in the 78th minute, with Sabitzer going one-on-one with Szczesny and trying to get past him, only for the Polish keeper to bring him down, giving him a penalty, which he duly converted. Arnautovic for 3-1!
Somewhere in there, Poland… surrendered, giving their opponent the chance to look for a fourth goal. In the 84th minute, Szézny made the intervention of the match, impressively blocking a long-range shot from Posh, while in the 85th minute, Laimer also passed the Juventus goalkeeper, but failed to score in front of an empty net from a lateral position. Thus, with the final 3-1, Austria took an important step towards qualification, before facing the Netherlands, while Poland saw its hopes dashed, before facing France.
MVP: THE Christoph Baumgartner he was the top scorer for Austria! The link between center and attack of his team, with the ball constantly passing through his feet. He was the one who scored the most important goal of the match with an impeccable placement, giving the lead (2-1) to his team again, while he also had an 87% success rate in his passes.
Poland (Propierz, 3-5-2): Szézny – Davidovic, Bednarek, Kivior – Frankovski, Slij (75′ Grozicki), Piotrowski (46′ Moder), Zalewski, Zielinski (86′ Urbanski) – Buksa (60′ Sviderski), Piontek (60′ Lewandowski)
Austria (Ragnik, 4-2-3-1): Penz – Poss, Lienhart, Trauner (58′ Danso), Muene (63′ Pras) – Greilitch (46′ Wimmer), Seewald – Leimer, Baumgardner (81′ Schmidt), Sabitzer – Arnautovic (81′ Gregoric)
Referee: Halil Umut Meller (Turkey)
Field: Berlin Olympic Stadium
Live of the match from sport-fm.gr
Source: Sport Fm
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