Poland was easily the better team in the opening Group C match against Northern Ireland in the Euro 2016 campaign on Sunday at the Allianz Riviera, Nice.
Going nil all at half-time, Arkadiusz Milik’s low finish at the 51st minute through the legs of Craig Cathcart sealed the points for Poland.
This also marks Northern Ireland’s first defeat in 13 games – a run stretching back to 25 March 2015.
Poland had dominated the first half but were thwarted by some superb defending by Michael O’Neill’s men.
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Northern Ireland did not manage to get a decent effort on target and must now regroup to play Ukraine on Thursday.
With plenty of miss and slips, Northern Ireland worked hard to equalise but could not hold out their nerves. As the first goal by Poland sunk in to the men in green, quick substitution of Shane Ferguson by QPR’s Conor Washington in the 66th minute and bringing in Jamie Ward did not materialise any equaliser for the Irish.
The Northern Irish came close to any chance of an equaliser in the 85th with a smart free-kick which ended in skipper Steven Davis just failing to put his foot on the ball.
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