POLAND SAFELY REACH LAST 16
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI still couldn’t find the net... but even that didn’t prevent the Poles reaching the first knockout tie of euro 2016 after qualifying from Group C without conceding. they booked their place to face switzerland in the last 16 on saturday after a second-half strike by borussia dortmund’s Jakub blaszczykowski was enough to beat Ukraine. it was a comfortable run-out for one of the tournament’s dark horses, although they will be concerned about the form of Lewandowski in front of goal. scorer of 44 goals for bayern Munich last season — and the top scorer in euro 2016 qualifying with 13 goals — he has failed to register in France so far. and that downturn in form continued in Marseille last night when he sidefooted over the crossbar after being presented with an easy chance. Poland needed only a point to guarantee qualification and threw everything at their neighbours and euro 2012 co-hosts in the early stages, with arkadiusz Milik — who scored the winner against northern ireland in their opening group game — going close. Ukraine responded when andriy Yarmolenko shot wide of swansea City goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski but Poland finally made the breakthrough after 54 minutes when Milik played in substitute blaszczykowski and he rolled the ball from his right foot to his left before firing in from 12 yards. they nearly added a second but teenager bartosz kaputska — nicknamed the Little Cabbage — shot into the side-netting. He not only missed that chance, but will also miss saturday’s match after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament. Polish fans will be praying that Lewandowski regains his golden touch at the business end of the tournament but, even so, the Poles now head to saint-etienne buoyed by three consecutive clean sheets in a defence well marshalled by kamil Glik. they have also lost only four of their last 27 internationals. For Ukraine, by contrast, there is likely to be radical change after a dismal campaign which saw them lose all three games without scoring a goal. Veteran anatoliy tymoshchuk, 37, received a big ovation when he came on at the end for his 144th and final cap. but the national team are now set to rebuild under legendary former striker andriy shevchenko, who is tipped to take over as manager.