Berlin: A superb second-half performance by Austria kick-started their hopes of making the Euro 2024 knockout stage with a 3-1 win over Poland on Friday, with Gernot Trauner, Christian Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic all getting on the scoresheet.
The Austrians, who lost to France in their opener, survived a spirited first-half comeback in which Poland equalised and came close to taking the lead before the wheels came off in the second half as they slumped to a second loss in the tournament.
Undeterred by news that record scorer Robert Lewandowski was still not fit to start, Polish fans lit a handful of flares as they belted out the national anthem, with a cloud of smoke wafting towards the goal Austria defended in the first half. That was about as close as the Poles got in the opening exchanges, with Austria dominating possession through repeated attacks up the left flank and going ahead in the ninth minute.
Philipp Mwene's long throws were a threat from the start and Austria's goal came when one of them was headed back into his path, allowing the left back to cross for Trauner to score with a bullet header into the top corner after nine minutes.
However, Poland levelled on the half-hour mark as Austria failed to clear a corner satisfactorily and when Trauner blocked a shot from Jan Bednarek, the ball fell kindly for Krsysztof Piatek to control and then steer into the net.
Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz had to pull off a superb one-handed save in first-half stoppage time and when Lewandowski finally entered the fray on the hour Polish hopes rose, only to be quickly dashed.
Austria's second goal in the 66th was beautiful in its simplicity as they switched play from right to left before Alexander Prass picked out Baumgartner with a pinpoint pass and the midfielder's cool finish gave Wojciech Szczesny no chance.
When Marcel Sabitzer then tore through the middle, Szczesny had no choice to bring him down and Marko Arnautovic drilled the resulting spot kick low to the keeper's left to make it 3-1 after 78 minutes and leave the Poles with a mountain to climb.
Lewandowksi's contribution in just over half an hour amounted to a yellow card for an elbow on Philipp Lienhart four minutes after coming on, and Poland's task of making it out of the group will be made all the more difficult if he cannot quickly find his form.
Though they still have a chance of making it through to the knockout stage, the Poles will be unable to finish in the top two should France avoid defeat by the Netherlands later on Friday.
Poland face France in their final group game on Tuesday in Dortmund when Austria taking on the Dutch in Berlin. "We gave away the match a little bit which was completely unnecessary, and then in the second half, we knew that now we have to deliver," man of the match Baumgartner told reporters. "That's a one of our qualities, one of our characteristics, that we know how to deal with these kinds of situations, and know how to react to those situations, and that's why eventually it was a positive result for us," he added.
Poland coach Michal Probierz said Lewandowski was fully fit, and had trained with the team. "We knew that this would be a highly-intensive match, so we decided with the medical team and Robert Lewandowski himself that he would not be starting from the first minute," Probierz told reporters.
"We hoped that we could break through the Austrian defence in the second half, it's a pity we didn't score a winner first," he added.