Date: 12th June 2016 at 6:34pm
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Arkadiusz Milik scored the only goal as Poland won their first ever game at a European Championship, beating Northern Ireland 1-0 in Nice to end the Irish’s 12-match unbeaten run.

Milik’s excellent finish early in the second-half gave Adam Nawalka’s Polish side their first win in seven attempts in this competition, as Northern Ireland failed to earn pick up a point in their first match at a major international tournament for 30 years.

After a nervous start to the match from both sides, it was Poland who created the first chance of the game with just under half-an-hour played, as Milik tested goalkeeper Michael McGovern from outside the box. The forward smartly shifted the ball onto his left foot, before taking aim, but it was a comfortably save for McGovern.

Moments later Milik missed a golden opportunity to give Poland the lead. Lukasz Piszczek won the ball and found the forward with a lovely cut-back, but he blazed his effort wide from eight yards out, after beating two Irish defenders.

The White Eagles maintained their dominance as Bartosz Kaputska picked up a loose ball and let fly with a thunderous left-footed half-volley just before half-time, which was saved superbly by McGovern after Kyle Lafferty’s clearance had fallen to the midfielder.

Northern Ireland failed to register a shot at goal in the first half, in what was a very reserved start to the tournament from Michael O’Neill’s side, as the two teams entered the break at 0-0.

29/03/2015 Ireland v Poland - EURO 2016 Qualifier Group D Arkadiusz Milik Photo: John Halas

Arkadiusz Milik was the hero for Poland. Photo: John Halas

Milik made up for his terrible miss in the first-half with an exquisite finish soon after the interval though, which sprung the match into life. Krzysztof Maczynski won the ball with a towering header, before spraying the ball onto the right wing to Jakub Blaszczykowski.

The Borussia Dortmund midfielder found Milik whose shot arrowed into the bottom left-hand corner, six minutes after the restart.

Northern Ireland could have been 2-0 down if it were not for Conor McLaughlin’s goal-saving challenge after Lewandowski had crafted a wonderfully timed pass to split the Irish defence open, giving Kaputska a chance to double their lead.

The Green and White Army failed to test Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the Poland goal and only really looked a threat when Conor Washington came on as a substitute for Shane Ferguson with just over an hour gone.

Captain Steven Davis came the closest to equalising, but he failed to connect with the ball following a well-worked free-kick from Craig Cathcart.

Man of the Match: Arkadiusz Milik

The Ajax forward, who can sometimes go under the radar for Poland with his strike partner Robert Lewandowski often getting the headlines, was a constant threat up top. Despite missing a golden opportunity to open the score in the first half, he kept his cool and supplied the finish to grab his country’s first goal at Euro 2016.

His work-rate and runs kept Northern Ireland’s defenders busy and showed fellow Group C opponents, Ukraine, and world champions, Germany, exactly why they can not afford to concentrate just on Lewandowski.

What’s Next? Northern Ireland will face Ukraine in Lyon on Thursday evening while the victorious Poland go head-to-head with world champions Germany on the same day at the Stade de France, in the French capital of Paris.

 
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