So, there we go; simply put, Poland were too good for Ireland. Lewandowski will get the headlines, as he should - he’s a ridiculous individual - but the pace and invention of Piszczek, Linetty, Maczynski and Grosicki was also crucial. On a good day, they’d trouble better sides than the one they played tonight.
As for Ireland, the injury to Hoolahan hampered them, but perhaps Martin O’Neill got his team wrong - his midfield probably wasn’t mobile enough to wear Walters and Long, ceding too much dangerous possession for not enough in return. Still, they’ve got another hack at it.
Anyway, thanks all for your comments and company - night.
Full-time: Poland 2-1 Ireland
Credit where it’s due, Poland are properly embracing this buzz. Their bench charge on, there’s much hugging and shouting, and then someone thinks that this moment has everything but tickertape.
Updated
90+4 min Ireland just can’t get hold of the ball - Poland look the likelier scorers, as their subs jig and manager exhorts the crowd. Walters fouls Lewandowski, is booked, and that’s him out of the play-off first leg. And, on reflection, perhaps O’Shea might have retrained himself, given his similar absence.
Updated
RED CARD JOHN O'SHEA!
90+2 min Captain’s foul, this. Brady gives the ball away and Lewandowski, out on the right touchline on halfway, nudges it beyond O’Shea and prepares to sprint - he’ll be in on goal if there’s no intervention, which there is. O’Shea is off before his second yellow card can be so much as depocketed.
Updated
90 mins There shall be five added minutes; well done referee. Far too often, the time returned is far less than the time wasted and lost.
89 min The crowd, who’ve been quiet this half, are really getting after it now. Poland looked nervous around the hour, but since then, have defended well enough - conceding one proper chance against a team chasing the game isn’t bad at all.
87 min Ireland win a free-kick out on the left, 50 yards from goal. Brady whips it in and eventually the ball winds up on the edge of the box with McGeady. He shoots, but Fabianski is ready for it and collects easily.
86 min Ireland have had a fair bit of the ball this last 20 minutes, but haven’t really created enough panic, let alone chances. Long’s injury was a major moment in the game.
85 min Pezsko replaces Grosicki.
84 min Lewandowski holds up and frees Grosicki down the left. He rousts past Coleman and lays back for Krychowiak, arriving on the edge of the box to thunk wide.
83 min Keogh and Lewandowski exchange shoves after Keane takes a knock to the pus and there are differences of opinion as to how matters should proceed thereafter.
80 min Ireland win a corner off Piszczek - it goes short, to improve the angle - and the cross is excellent. Somehow, it flashes across the face of the goal without a telling touch, as far as Hoolahan, who finds Coleman who finds McGeady. A stepover and dash sees him past his man and to the line, his cross snapped back - and there’s Keogh! But he can only head into ground, giving Fabianski time to read the resultant loop and smother.
79 min Germany have retaken the lead - as things stand, they’ll top the group.
Updated
78 min McCarthy, who’s been quiet, closes down well in centrefield and the ball breaks to McClean. But 25 yards out, he simply throws laces at it, sending a shot all over the show.
Updated
78 min Szukala replaces Maczynski, and it looks like Poland are changing to 3-5-2.
75 min Hoolahan seems to have made a difference already - a shimmy in the middle of the pitch takes Linetty out of the game, and gives momentum to Ireland’s attack. The ball goes wide to Coleman, he comes back inside onto his left foot and slings over a presentable cross - but Glik is up and eventally, Poland clear.
73 min Last roll for Ireland - Hoolahan replaces McClean.
72 min Excellent corner - though quite what Krychowiak is doing, unmarked in the middle of the box, no one knows. He thuds a header just wide of the far post.
71 min Martin O’Neill is irating himself something fierce as Ireland give the ball away, and then Linetty, away on the right, sweeps a deletable pass over the top for Lewandowski. It’s slightly behind him, but, and though he transfers it into his stride majestically, losing O’Shea in the process, Coleman slides over to divert behind.
69 min Coleman drills a long one from right-back towards Walters, puling left. He flicks behind to McClean, whose cross is blocked behind. But Hendricks’ cross is taken very well by Fabianski, knees up. Ronnie Blake would approve.
Updated
67 min Good few minutes for Poland, Kuba showing his experience to win a corner on the right. Piszczek and McClean leap for an outswinger, it glances wide, and the officials determine a goal-kick - incorrectly.
Updated
64 min But Poland break like lunatics, Lewandowski laying back Kuba and scything forward, Maczynski sending Grosicki through on goal! Randolph, though, does superbly, nashing out to dive low; a lifted Beardsley finish and he’s done, but he rushes his man, who scuffs into his shins.
62 min Ireland get the ball into the box, and Keane and Coleman both attack it, getting in each other’s way. But it then takes Poland a couple of goes to clear - they’re not happy.
Updated
62 min Randolph is now able to pass the ball out from his place-kicks - Poland are nervous.
60 min Ireland are starting to press forward as Poland start to wonder whether to hang onto what they have. And in that context, they’re in a decent decision - it’d be surprising if they didn’t create a couple of decent chances in the half-hour that remains.
58 min Krychowak bumps Keane in the back, 40 yards out and right-hand side. Brady whips one in and O’Shea faces it across the box, but the fall of the ball is unkind for Ireland, and Poland clear the danger.
57 min McGeady comes on for Whelan. Perhaps Ireland will get the ball wide earlier, instead of aiming at their two strikers - they’re now playing 4-4-2.
56 min Keane replaces Long.
55 min Georgia have equalised in Germany. Scotland lead Gibraltar 4-0.
54 min Martin O’Neill is doing his noddle on the touchline as Glick comes around the wrong side of the ball and hooks Long’s knee with his. Looks like that’s him done for the evening.
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53 min It’s hard not to see Poland scoring again.
52 min Ireland attack for the first time in a while, the ball teed up for Whelan, 25 yards out. He lines it up well, head and knee over it, but doesn’t trouble Fabianski with his low drive.
50 min Wawrzywiak shoves Long off the ball, advances down the left, and lumps over a cross that Olkowski glances just wide. Ireland need to do something to get a hold of things in midfield - perhaps Hoolahan, who’ll come towards rather than run away from the ball, could give them more control.
Updated
49 min A penalty from Thomas Muller gives Germany the lead against Georgia.
47 min Olkowski and Grosicki play a one-two at the left corner of the Irish box, the former brushing McClean and hurling himself grasswards. The inevitable penalty appeal eventuates, which displeases Keogh immensely.
47 min “There’s a lot of competition, but surely there’s got be room for Vini Reilly…” posits Patrick Cullen.
46 min Off we go again.
Apparently that goal Ireland conceded changes nothing. Can’t believe Poland even celebrated it. Fools.
Elsewhere: Germany are drawing 0-0 with Georgia.
Updated
Half-time email, with J.R. in Illinois (who hates Nazis): “Right after Walters’ goal you missed O’Shea and Lewandowski jostling to head a ball. O’Shea had his arm out a bit. It would have been nothing but Lewandowski made a meal of it and the ref bought it and carded O’Shea. I sure hope that card doesn’t come back to haunt Ireland here.
Lewandowski would be a lot easier to like if he stopped whingeing about every decision and throwing himself to the floor at almost every opportunity, something which he has done multiple times already today.”
Imagine the shame in being floored by O’Shea.
Half-time: Poland 2-1 Ireland
Well that was a lot of fun; I believe this is how it’s meant to be, though I’m probably wrong.
Ireland haven’t played badly, looking like they might at some point do something good enough to produce a goal - but they’ve not threatened enough either. Poland, on the other hand, have proper class going forward, and reasonably though Ireland have defended, they’ve always looked likely to resolve things at some point.
Updated
45 min There shall be one added minute.
43 min On the plus side for Ireland, they only need one goal for their 2-2.
GOAL! Poland 2-1 Ireland (Lewandowski, 41)
Joann’s got it
Leonice has got it
Theresa’s got it
Tonia’s got it
I tell ya Cheryl’s got it
Boy I tell you
Betty’s got it
Chip has got it
And Ann’s got it
Gail’s got it
Stephanie’s got it
And Sabrina’s got it
Rachelle has got it yeah
Gladys got it
Fontina’s got it
Little cute Aaliyah’s got it
Ooh Stacy’s got it
I tell ya
Tita’s got it
I tell ya Rita’s got it
Oh Laurel’s got it
And Kim’s got it, yeah.
And so has Robert Lewandowski! What a goal this is! Piszczek lifts forward down the right, drawing O’Shea out of position as Linetty muscles in pursuit. He’s there first to check and lay back for Maczynski, who wedges a cross to the penalty spot - and there’s the baddest of badmen, leaning across the overmatched Walters to annihilate a header towards the bottom left. Such is the power that the ball jams in the net, despite not being right in the corner, and that’s 13 goals in qualifying, a new record.
Updated
40 min Olkowski, at inside-left, stubs a delicious ball over the top of the Irish defence, seeking Maczynski. But it’s got just too much fade, and runs away from his outstretched laces.
39 min “Bee Gees are Isle of Man, aren’t they?” corrects Mike Olllier. Perhaps Dan Lucas has confused Mancs with Manx. “I’m plumping for Albertos Y Lost Trios Paranoias ~ ‘Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie.’
38 min “Surely Manchester’s mightiest band - and football themed!” exclaims Geoffrey Vivian.
They’d certainly precis this game better than any of the rest.
35 min Poland are playing with a little more composure now, Lewandowski occupying two men laying the ball back from the left side of the box. It’s, er, “recycled”, and then Piszczek, on the right, larrups a crossfielder for Grosicki in similar position. He steps inside and looks for a Ronnie Whelan curler, but is high and wide.
34 min “No one ‘moved Messi’ except the diminutive man himself”, tweets AJ Carlos. “Suarez has said it was Messi’s idea for him (Messi) to go wide.”
I’m sure he said - and meant that. But I’d be pretty surprised if the coach wasn’t involved.
32 min Brady feeds McClean, who weaves outside then inside, dismissing two challenges. He’s stopped thereafter, but if Ireland can get him the ball higher up the field, he can cause Poland problems. And the attack doesn’t end there, either - it switches flanks and Coleman dashes down the right, running out of pitch, but not before backheeling the ball against Wawrzywiak’s shins. The corner, however, is nonsense, and Fabianski catches easily.
30 min Ireland will be happy with how things have gone so far, you’d expect. They’ve limited Poland’s chances, got closer to their high-scoring draw, and looked semi-dangerous on the break. They will, however, need another goal - seems inconceivable they’ll not concede again.
28 min “Manchester’s best band, Stockport’s finest”, tweets Daniel Tunnard - contradicting terms, if we’re being purists, though if we were, we’d not be allowed Joy Division either.
26 min Most of Poland’s good work has come down their right, but then Linetty espies a loose ball on the left and hurtles through it and whoever was in the way - Hendrick I think. But Coleman was there covering, and the danger quickly averted.
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23 min “Lewandowski was on the bench for that Wolfsburg game because he was still getting over a minor ankle injury,” says Evan Brewer. “He had been spotted at the infamous Muller-Wolfhart clinic during the week. As for Pep, the whole idea that he doesn’t like a good center-forward is nonsense. Other than a very short spell right after Lewandowski’s transfer, Pep has started him pretty much every game he has been fit.”
It’s hard to tell, I guess, because at Barcelona, once Eto’o left, he had Messi, and Luis Enrique bought Suarez and moved Messi to make room. It also seems like the kind of thing he’d not like, which of course supersedes all evidence.
22 min Things are slightly more sedate now, but this is a desperate, throbbing, superb mess of a game of association football. The aforementioned Pep must be hating every second.
20 min Says Dan Lucas.
@DanielHarris Manchester's best band by a distance: https://t.co/sWcqAtK1xV
— Dan Lucas (@DanLucas86) October 11, 2015
17 min Things are happening! Lewandowski hares down the right and clips back into the box. Maczynski goes for it, so do various others, and eventually the ball breaks to him again. He fires home, but Lewandowksi was offside in the original kerfuffle.
GOAL! Poland 1-1 Ireland (Walters, 16)
Walters charges in, slows up, opens his body and punches a low side-footer into the bottom-right.
Updated
PENALTY IRELAND!
Pazdan raises his foot head-high to boot Long in the coupon - it’s perhaps outside the box and certainly towards its right corner, so for no good reason - but the ref thinks otherwise.
Updated
GOAL! Poland 1-0 Ireland (Krychowiak, 13)
What a finish this is! The corner’s clipped back to the edge, no one’s remotely mithered to cover - McClean was pulled away with some rudimentary movement . Thusly could Krychowiak control and drill beautifully across his body into the bottom left, beating the unsighted Randolph, one bounce.
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13 min Brilliant from Piszczek, as Ireland fuss around in the left corner of their area. After three abortive attempts to clear, he loses patience and burns around the outside, drilling a pullback for Lewandowski in the six-yard box. But O’Shea and Brady fling bodies in the road, and concede a corner.
11 min Fabianski seizes a hopeful free-kick punted into the box and sanderwestervelds it downfield forthwith, seeking Lewandowksi. But he’s supervised by both Keogh and O’Shea, and the ruse is easily snuffed out.
10 min Not much going on for the now. Neither side will mind.
9 min “Thanks for the Joy Division, Daniel”, emails Ian Copestake. “Thought my nostalgia quota for the evening was already reached, but now it seems to be just beginning.”
Joy Division are Manchester’s best band (apart from the H2SO5, featuring D Harris snr on lead guitar/vocals). Discuss.
7 min “Lewandowski is the obvious threat to Ireland tonight on the back of that scoring run highlighted by that five-goal spree,” emails David Wall. “But remarkable as that performance was, does anyone know why he started on the bench in what seemed on the face of it Bayern’s biggest league game of the season at the time? Was Guardiola having doubts about him?”
It’s odd, isn’t it. He’s not mad about menial activities like goalscoring, when there’s the beauty of the system to consider. Seeing as we must compare things to things, Lewandowski reminds me a little of Ruud van Nistelrooy, in terms of his ability to calculate precisely what needs to be done in any situation, in order that the ball find its way into the net.
5 min Glik nuts the back of Long’s head as they leap for a long ball, and there’s a brief delay, but both are fine. Glik has a sort of step, accentuated with a bleached top bit - he’ll try an undercut sometime in 2018.
4 min Lewandowski sashays past Brady in centrefield, so Brady ambles into him, landing a snide sair yin in his ribs. Nicely done.
3 min Wish someone would tell me what Lewandowski’s been up to lately. The camera at this ground is very curiously placed, somewhere up amongst the cumulus and nimbus, facing down at a sheer, acute angle. White Hart Lane could learn a thing of two from this.
1 min Whistles as Brady advances down the left, and Ireland pop it around confidently before Hendrick draws a foul off Piszczek, just ahead of halfway. The free-kick comes to nowt.
Updated
1 min Poland kick-off.
It’s cold in Warsaw, apparently.
Minute’s silence for tragedies in Turkey and Ireland.
The players of both teams pose for a photo, as per the 1985 Charity Shield.
The Poles are absolutely nailing this anthem. Great stuff.
Incidentally, this is the only group with no guaranteed qualifier. Poland need a win, a 0-0 draw or a 1-1 draw.
Out come the players, the ball is deplinthed - how do they think of these innovations - and they’re under the arch. Hackles elevate.
The line between zane, apparently not allowed, and barm, apparently allowed, is blurry. Let’s just enjoy these because they’re enjoyable.
Ireland - Undisputed Kings of Flag Making. #COYBIG #POLIRL #IRE pic.twitter.com/PfT1qCokhK
— The Final Third (@TheFinal_Third) October 11, 2015
Earlier today: Seán O’Brien gets into the spirit of things...
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Anyone know what Robert Lewandowski’s been up to lately? Thought not. Some brilliant oddness in the bottom one, for connoisseurs of the form.
Seems that the delightful Wes Hoolahan has an injury, but he’s ready to come off the bench if required. Even so, Ireland will fancy themselves to get at this Polish defence - the question will be how they cope at the back. I’d expect McCarthy and Whelan to sit deep, protecting O’Shea and Keogh.
Updated
The main talking point, of course, is that Wojciech Szczesny doesn’t start up front for Poland. But that aside, Rybus is suspended, so Wawrzywiak comes in, and elsewhere, Kuba and the injured Milik drop out with Linetty and Olkowski coming in.
Ireland change things too. Randolph continues in net, Coleman comes in for Christie, Ward is replaced by Whelan, Murphy by Long, and Hoolahan by McClean.
Teams, if you will
Poland: Fabiański; Piszczek, Glik, Pazdan, Wawrzyniak; Krychowiak, Linetty; Olkowski,Mączyński, Grosicki; Lewandowski.
Subs: Szczesny, Cionek, Jedrzejczyk, Szukala, Boruc, Kapustka, Blaszczykowski, Peszko, Mila, Sobiech, Borysiuk
Ireland: Randolph; Coleman, O’Shea, Keogh, Brady; McClean, Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick; Walters, Long.
Subs: Forde, Elliot, Wilson, Christie, McShane, McGeady, Meyler, Gibson, Hoolahan, Keane, Murphy, McGoldrick
Preamble
Sometimes, the things you love about things are also the things you hate about things; take nation-states for example. Differentiating homo sapiens according to arbitrary borders is pretty heavy - but, on the other hand, just look at the football! There’s resonance in one country taking on another that you rarely get in the club game, which, though better, isn’t as important. Italics.
Then there’s Uefa. Hopelessly, mortifyingly in love with money, yes, but as a direct consequence, we’ve enjoyed the best qualifying competition for a very long time. And there’s more: with an unprecedented number of ecstatic-to-be-theres, the atmosphere in France next summer will be spectacular, there’ll be more games to guzzle and more new players and teams to enjoy - no small achievement in these days of universal omniscience - and at the end, it’ll still be the best teams left. As with any tournament, that’s what’ll determine its lasting quality, but the brilliance of the rest is absolutely guaranteed.
Which brings us to Ireland. One of the principal beneficiaries of the new system, they’ve shown superb focus and testicles throughout Group D, such that a play-off place is assured. But if they can beat Poland tonight - or manage a 2-2 draw or higher - Denny will be banging out souvenir saucissons in no time.
Daniel will be here soon enough.
