The Three Lions Earn A Draw

WARSAW, POLAND – OCTOBER 17: Lukasz Piszczek and Marcin Wasilewsk of Poland challenge Steven Gerrard of England during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier between Poland and England at the National Stadium.

Poland and England shared the spoils in a 1–1 draw at the National Stadium in Warsaw on Wed­nes­day. Both teams scored from corners, with Wayne Rooney heading home the opener from a clever Steven Ger­rard flag kick after 31 minutes and Kamala Glik con­vert­ing Ludovic Obraniak´s corner kick for the equal­iser in the 70th minute.

The game went to and fro during the early stages of the first period, with both teams struggling to find any proper rhythm in their attacking play. As the hard fought match wore on, though, Wal­de­mar Fornalik´s Poland started to put more pressure on Roy Hodgson´s troops. Wayne Rooney nonetheless managed to score the opening goal against the run of play, when the Manchester United striker headed a well executed corner from Liverpool´s Steven Ger­rard into the back of the net in the 31st minute of the encounter.

The Three Lions almost doubled their lead in the 69th minute of action, when bandy legged front runner Danny Wel­beck chased down a clever ball on the left side of the pen­alty area from dynamic midfield orches­trator James Mil­ner and played it back to his Manchester United team ­mate Wayne Rooney, who powered his shot just a few inches over the crossbar. Only one minute later, however, central defender Kamil Glik managed to head a dangerous corner from Bordeaux midfielder Ludovic Obra­niak past the Eng­land goalkeeper and into the net to level things out at the packed £400 million National Stadium in War­zaw.

And although Joe Hart was mostly to blame for the goal as he failed to clear the ball, the Manchester City custodian wasn’t helped much by the defenders. The White and Reds con­tin­ued to challenge the overworked Eng­land defence as the match fizzled out, but the back four kept their concentration to ensure that the vis­it­ing side went home with an important point in the bag. All in all, it was an enter­tain­ing game of football despite the playing con­di­tions, and a fully deserved away draw for the Eng­land, who can now look forward to their upcoming fixtures with a much greater degree of con­fid­ence.

Eng­land Team: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson Phil Jagielka, Ash­ley Cole, Joleon Lescott, James Mil­ner, Michael Car­rick, Steven Ger­rard, Tom Clev­er­ley, Wayne Rooney, Jer­main Defoe. Sub­sti­tutes: Danny Wel­beck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Len­non, Leighton Baines, Jonjo Shelvey, Adam John­son, Fraser Forster.