Group C sides battle out a scoreless stalemate outlined by second of brilliance from Mexico’s veteran goalkeeper.
Mexico and Poland have performed out a 0-0 stalemate of their opening Group C fixture as Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa’s pivotal second-half penalty save denied striker Robert Lewandowski his first World Cup purpose.
A sea of Mexico followers in inexperienced outnumbered their Polish counterparts and made their presence felt on Tuesday within the 40,000-capacity Stadium 974.
However motion on the pitch was considerably extra subdued as either side proved blunt in assault throughout a largely forgettable first half.
Mexico dominated possession all through, however with out Raul Jimenez spearheading the assault, Henry Martin struggled to get on the tip of possibilities within the field.
On the different finish, Poland didn't get Lewandowski concerned with the Barcelona striker, who has scored 18 objectives for the Spanish membership this season, receiving valuable little service.
With Poland shedding the midfield battle, coach Czeslaw Michniewicz made a half-time substitution by hauling off Nicola Zalewski and bringing on central midfielder Krystian Bielik, which allowed Piotr Zielinski to play in a sophisticated position.
The tactical change appeared to work initially as Poland started creating possibilities and finally received a 58th-minute penalty following a VAR evaluate after Hector Moreno bought maintain of Lewandowski’s shirt and pulled him down.
Lewandowski shot low from the spot however the 37-year-old Ochoa, taking part in in his fifth World Cup, guessed accurately and dived to his left to forestall Poland’s captain. The 34-year-old is his nation’s all-time main scorer with 76 objectives however nonetheless stays with no World Cup purpose.
To not be outdone by Ochoa’s brilliance, Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny additionally underlined his credentials moments later when he reacted shortly, modified course and denied a glancing header from Martin.
Mexico coach Gerardo Martino changed Martin and introduced on Jimenez with 20 minutes to go within the second half, however the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, who's coming back from an extended damage lay-off, didn't have a shot on purpose.
The consequence leaves Saudi Arabia as group leaders after their beautiful upset of Argentina, one of many favourites to elevate the World Cup, earlier within the day.
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