Robert Lewandowski scored his first ever World Cup goal as Poland snatched a win against a wasteful Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Saudi Arabia started the match with a touching tribute to injured defender Yasser Alshahrani, before dominating the early stages in a feisty first half. It was Poland who scored first, though, with Lewandowski putting it on a plate for Piotr Zielinski who fired home from close range. A lengthy VAR check gave Saudi Arabia the chance to equalise from the spot on the stroke of half-time, but heroics from Wojciech Szczesny kept Poland’s lead intact. He first denied Salem Al-Dawsari – who appeared to take the ball out of Firas Al-Buraikan’s hands – before spectacularly tipping Mohammed Al-Burayk’s follow-up over the bar. Saudi Arabia spurned a host of guilt-edged chances before Poland doubled their lead, with Lewandowski capitalising on an error from Abdulelah Al Malki to score his first World Cup goal. The Poland forward should perhaps have had a second late on, but it will be Herve Renard who will be wondering how his side didn’t pick up at least a point.
While Lewandowski may get all the praise, Szczesny’s two saves in quick succession to deny Al-Dawsari and Al-Burayk were pivotal. With Poland taking a shock lead and facing a raucous atmosphere in Al Rayyan largely in support of the Saudis, Szczesny’s double save just before the break couldn’t have come at a better time. The veteran shot stopper was also at hand to deny Saudi Arabia at several points in the second half, as Poland ground out a crucial victory.
Some key things to note are: Poland are unbeaten in their opening two games of a World Cup tournament for the first time since 1986 (also W1 D1). In the process, they have equalled their longest run of consecutive clean sheets at the World Cup, keeping three in a row for the first time since 1978. Saudi Arabia have lost each of their last nine World Cup matches against European teams dating back to 1994, while failing to score a single goal across the last eight. Saudi Arabia have only kept one clean sheet in their 18 matches at the World Cup – indeed, among teams with at least 10 games played, they have the lowest clean sheet ratio in the tournament’s history (6%).