Poland had to come twice from behind to rescue 2-2 draw with Nigeria’s Super Eagles with the last kick of the game and extended their unbeaten run in Warsaw-held matches to five.
With neither of these sides going to this summer’s World Cup, there was little more than pride on the line in the Polish capital. For Poland, though, it was an opportunity to regain some momentum before their quest to regain League A status in the UEFA Nations League when it begins in September, and their early pressure ought to have yielded the opening goal inside 10 minutes. Nicola Zalewski’s deep delivery found the unmarked Jakub Kamiński at the far post and he incredibly headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
Another chance came and went for the hosts before the midway point of the half when Robert Lewandowski could only divert Sebastian Szymański’s delivery into the grateful arms of Maduka Okoye, and that proved to be a costly miss as Nigeria hit the front with their first meaningful attack on 23 minutes. Wilfried Ndidi was influential, driving through midfield before feeding Moses Simon in behind and he made no mistake in squaring for Terem Moffi to tap into an empty net. The hosts had Kamil Grabara to thank for going into the break just a goal behind too, as he produced a stunning one-handed stop on the stroke of HT to deny Tochukwu Nnadi from distance.
That proved to be a key stop after Kacper Potulski turned home Zalewski’s cross in stoppage time to ensure Poland went into the break on level terms, but they weren’t able to build on that after the break. Jan Urban’s men ought to have fallen behind within 10 minutes of the restart when two Nigerian HT substitutes combined as Semi Ajayi planted a perfect cross onto the head of Paul Onuachu who powered a header just wide from six yards out.
The game ebbed and flowed as both sides pushed for a winner, and Poland were nearly gifted one when Zaidu Sanusi’s underhit backpass was pounced upon by Lewandowski, but the Poles’ all-time leading scorer was unable to squeeze an effort beneath Okoye. Nigeria had the favour returned not too long after when Kacper Kozłowski was adjudged to have handled inside the area after a swift VAR check, and Paul Onuachu made no mistake in dispatching from the spot. The game had one final twist with the last kick of the game though, as centre back Przemysław Wiśniewski stepped forwards and unleashed an absolute rocket from 40 yards which flew into the top corner to stretch their run to just one defeat in 14 international friendlies.
Report by Flashscore
Flashscore Man of the Match: Wilfried Ndidi (Nigeria)
