Scotland 2 Poland 2: Euro 2016 dream ended by late Robert Lewandowski equaliser

End of the road: Scotland can no longer qualify for Euro 2016 after defeat on Thursday night
Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Ronnie Esplin8 October 2015

Scotland's dream of reaching the 2016 European Championship finals in France were ended by an injury-time leveller by Poland striker Robert Lewandowski at Hampden Park.

There was less than three minutes played when the in-form Bayern striker gave the visitors the lead, but wide-man Matt Ritchie thundered in a shot from outside the box seconds from the interval and striker Steven Fletcher put the home side ahead with a wonderful curling strike just over the hour mark.

However, with seconds of four added minutes remaining, Lewandowski knocked the ball in from inches out following a Kamil Grosicki free-kick to make it 2-2 to leave Scotland six points outside a play-off spot ahead of their final Group D fixture against Gibraltar in Portugal on Sunday.

Gordon Strachan's side started the game in fourth place and while there were several permutations which would see them win a play-off spot, they knew one certainty - defeat and hopes of reaching the finals were over.

A packed Hampden included thousands of Poland supporters peppered around the stadium and out singing a nervous Tartan Army, whose sense of foreboding was quickly vindicated.

Ian MacNicol/Getty)

There was less than two and a half minutes on the clock when Arkadiusz Milik split the Scotland defence with a slide-rule pass and Lewandowski, with some inevitability, raced clear to beat goalkeeper David Marshall at his near post with a shot from 10 yards.

The slick visitors took control of the game and in the 10th minute only an uncharacteristic Lewandowski mis-kick from 14 yards, after being set up by Grosicki, saved Marshall having to deal with another effort.

The Poles looked strong, confident and dangerous but slowly the Scots began to edge forward, Steven Naismith's blocked shot from inside the box giving the home support some encouragement.

However, Poland carved open a good chance in the 28th minute when a swift move ended with Lewandowski setting up Jakub Blaszczykowski inside the box but he drilled his shot wide of the far post.

A Ritchie strike from distance flew wide but at least suggested that Scotland were getting closer to testing Polish keeper Lukasz Fabianski and seconds from the interval he unleashed a left-footed drive from 25 yards which flew into the top corner to send the Scotland fans wild with unexpected delight.

Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

A frantic start to the second-half saw Marshall make a decent save from Milik's low drive while at the other end, Naismith missed a great chance from close range after Steven Whittaker had provided a perfect cross.

Lewandowski knocked the ball over on the stretch as the tension increased by the minute.

But the Scotland fans were in raptures again in the 61st minute when Ritchie fed Fletcher and from just inside the box the Sunderland striker curled the ball high past Fabianski and into the net.

Fabianski then saved a header from Fletcher before Marshall then thwarted Grzegorz Krychowiak's long-range effort.

Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

The Scots, imbued with belief, continued to fight and scratch for possession against a side who looked far from despondent.

With minutes ticking away and the Scotland fans discovering that Republic of Ireland had taken the lead against Germany - it would end up 1-0 for the Irish - Poland's Lukasz Piszczek drove wide of the target from the edge of the box.

The final stages were fraught. Poland kept pushing for the leveller - Grosicki headed over from six yards and Marshall made a save from Krychowiak - but in the last seconds of four added minutes, from Grosicki's free-kick, which made its way through a packed penalty area and off the post, Lewandowski bundled it over the line to deliver a cruel blow to the home side.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in