The Poles did not defeat Moldova at the PGE National Stadium. It’s getting harder and harder to get promoted

The Polish national team had one obligation – to win the match against Moldova to approach the match against the Czechs in a better mood. The first meeting with the Moldovans in Chisinau ended with a spectacular defeat of the team led by Fernando Santos at that time. Michał Probierz decided to make major changes in the lineup compared to the clash with the Faroe Islands. From the first minute they started, among others: Paweł Wszołek or Karol Świderski, and Matty Cash or Bartosz Slisz were missing. A draw makes it very difficult to qualify for the European Championships.

A calm start to the match

The White and Reds tried a quick attack at the beginning of the match, but an inaccurate pass to Milik averted any threat. After a while, the action moved to the Poles’ half and Szczęsny had to intervene. In the fifth minute, Zieliński sent the ball into the penalty area to Szymański, but the pass was too strong. The Moldovans very boldly moved the game from the second line into the offensive zone, which forced our defenders to make frequent tackles. In the ninth minute of the game, Frankowski crossed the ball to Świderski, but the striker did not reach the ball.

A moment later, things boiled over again in the visitors’ penalty area after Szymański’s pass to Zieliński and then Wszołek, but the visitors’ defense was up to the task. Moldova did not intend to give in to the Poles’ offensive and they moved the game close to Poland’s sixteen, for a moment closing our players in front of the penalty area, which ended with Postolachi’s shot on goal. In the 16th minute, Michał Probierz’s players won the first corner kick, but Zieliński’s cross was blocked. Just a moment later, Szczęsny made a dirty intervention, which meant that Szymański had to score from an almost empty goal.

Ion Nicolaescu – executioner of the Polish national team

Just before the 20th minute, Szymański crossed the ball from a free kick, and the ball headed by Świderski flew over the crossbar. The match result did not change. Cojocaru was shown a yellow card, and the Moldovans scored three corners in a row, and one could say that three times was a charm. Nicolaescu brilliantly took advantage of the confusion in the Poles’ penalty area and converted the shot into a goal with a strong shot, giving Moldova the lead. The Poles quickly started attacking, and Milik tried to cross the ball from the left, but no one blocked it. Michał Probierz’s team clearly had no idea how to conduct a coherent offensive action.

Frankowski crossed from the left wing to the sixth meter, from where Wszołek headed the ball, but the ball was intercepted by Railean. The Red and White defense had a lot of work to do. In the 33rd minute, Kiwior had to intervene with a sliding tackle and the ball landed out of bounds. Five minutes before the end of the first half, Milik tried a cross from the left again and again none of his teammates fought for the ball. In the 43rd minute, Wszołek shot a header, but it missed. The most dangerous actions of the Poles came in added time, when Milik scored twice from the fifth meter, but Railean remained at his post. Then Świderski nodded in the penalty area, but shot over the goal. 0-1 at halftime.

Karol Świderski equalized the score for the Poles

During the break, Michał Probierz made one change. Patryk Dziczek was replaced by Bartosz Slisz, and the Moldovans left without any corrections. Just like at the beginning of the match, the White and Reds quickly started attacking, but this time they scored a corner. The problem is that again, nothing came of it. In the 51st minute, Szymański took a free kick from the right side of the penalty area, but the ball was kicked out. However, two minutes later, what all Polish fans were waiting for happened. Milik brilliantly passed the ball passed into the penalty area by Zieliński. Świderski got the ball and sent a shot just past the right post, equalizing the score!

This encouraged the Poles to launch further attacks. Wszołek centered on the eleventh meter towards Świderski, but one of the Moldovans managed to head the ball beyond the end line. In the 61st minute, Świderski launched a perpendicular pass to Wszołek, who crossed it to Frankowski, who made a roll, but the ball was snatched from him just before he took the shot. Michał Probierz made three changes. He put Marchwiński, Kamiński and Buksa on the field instead of Milik, Wszołek and Szymański.

Draw at PGE Narodowy

The Moldovans used pressure on our players very effectively, but in the 82nd minute there was an offense close to the visitors’ penalty area. Zieliński sent the center towards Kamiński, but he did not reach the ball, which was cleared for a corner, but nothing came of it. Frankowski tried to cross the ball into the penalty area but failed. Grosicki appeared on the pitch, replacing Kędziora. Railean was shown a yellow card for delaying the game. In the 86th minute, the Pogoń Szczecin winger passed perpendicularly to Kamiński and his shot was saved by the goalkeeper from Moldova.

Several dozen seconds before the end of the regular game time, one of the visiting players fell on the pitch and the intervention of medical services was necessary. After resuming the game, Frankowski quickly moved forward and shot into the sixteen, but no one reached the ball. The referee added five additional minutes. Already in the first one, Buksa was close to being lucky, but he shot his header past the post. Unfortunately, the White and Reds were unable to beat their rivals’ goalkeeper. The match ended in a draw, which makes qualifying for the European Championships increasingly difficult.