Lewandowski finally gives minders the slip
STONES AND MAGUIRE’S WORK UNDONE AT END
ATTENTION to detail is something Gareth Southgate advocates so John Stones and Harry Maguire would have known how to shackle Robert Lewandowski.
If the Polish assassin gets an opportunity inside the penalty area, the chances are the ball is only going in one direction — to the back of the net. Keep him outside the danger zone, though, and the potential to keep him quiet raises dramatically.
‘I can work on everything still,’ Lewandowski told Sportsmail last January. ‘But one thing? Maybe to shoot from distance when I don’t have many options.’
In the 71st minute, that point came to mind. A roar went up in the Narodowy stadium as the local hero received possession and began burrowing forward.
Stones and Maguire held their line, like two sentries, and Lewandowski had no other choice but to shoot from 30 yards.
He scuffed it, allowing Jordan Pickford to make a routine save. In the next attack, as England went up field, Harry Kane found himself in a similar situation but, this time, the result was spectacularly different, as his shot dipped and swerved into the Poland net.
That Kane was able to administer such a decisive blow was down to the fact that Stones and Maguire rose to the challenge of throwing the shackles on Lewandowski, emerging on top in a tussle that provided an intriguing subplot to an absorbing night.
Job done, you thought. Stones and Maguire had limited Lewandowski to pot shots.
Poland’s spirits looked to be sagging. The contest between attack and defence had been absorbing but, when you have someone with his ability, you can never relax. He would show why — and how.
Lewandowski is one of those players that your eyes are drawn to, even in the quiet moments when the ball is nowhere near him. This is a man who must be spoken in the kind of reverential tones reserved for the late Gerd Muller and Marco van Basten, those all-time great No9s.
We can nod approvingly about England amassing 19 clean sheets in their last 25 fixtures but 10 of those came against Andorra, San Marino, Scotland, Albania, Republic of Ireland, Iceland (twice), Montenegro, Kosovo and Bulgaria, so containing Lewandowski was a different test.
To say Stones and Maguire — combined cost of £135million to their clubs in Manchester — were underdogs would be disingenuous but this was exactly the kind of challenge they needed to stamp their presence on to maintain the momentum England have built.
What followed was a battle full of intrigue. The tone was set in the fifth minute, when Lewandowski sidled out to the right-hand side and tried to fire in a cross that Stones, on to him in a flash, powerfully charged down.
Almost immediately, the temperature gauge on this particular battle was turned up. Lewandowski, so often fighting a one-man war, tried to make a run in behind but Stones stood still, puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders so the 33-year-old bounced off him.
Stones, clearly in the zone, looked down at Lewandowski and in no uncertain terms demanded he get to his feet. Lewandowski, with a smile, peered back. The twinkle in his eye suggested this was a clash he was going to enjoy.
There was no real service for Lewandowski but this is a man with a relentless obsession for mischief — he once gleefully took money off Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund when his then manager bet him he wouldn’t score in training sessions — and he wouldn’t be deterred. A couple of moments, 60 seconds apart, hammered this point home. In the 28th minute, Maguire played a routine ball out to Stones but Lewandowski appeared like a cheetah out of the long grass, all lean and lithe and looking for a kill, and almost pounced.
England survived that but, when the ball went back down towards their area, Lewandowski was there again. He charged into Kalvin Phillips, won a tackle and then chased on to a through ball, bulldozing his way past Phillips and Kyle Walker, but failing to get a clean contact. He screamed and clenched his teeth when Jordan Pickford gathered his shot but, still, it was outstanding forward play.
Such is his proficiency, Lewandowski had scored in 22 of his last 24 games for club and country but the longer the game went on, the more he found himself stymied by the lack of quality around him.
But, like the fighter he is, he kept going and in injury time, he made his mark. Lewandowski found a yard of space, rolled down the left of England’s area and lifted a ball to the back post for Damian Szymanski to equalise.
Proof, if it was needed, that you never keep a good man down.