Soccer Football - UEFA Nations League - Group A1 - Poland v Croatia - PGE Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland - October 15, 2024 Poland's Pawel Dawidowicz celebrates after Piotr Zielinski scores their first goal REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) -Poland fought back from two goals down to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw with visitors Croatia in an action-packed Nations League encounter on Tuesday.
Croatia, who fell behind early, had taken a stranglehold on the game with three goals in seven first-half minutes but were pegged back and then had keeper Dominik Livakovic sent off late-on.
The draw left Croatia second in Group A1 on seven points from four games, three ahead of third-placed Poland. Portugal top the group with 10 points with Scotland bottom on one point.
Poland, who were out for revenge after Croatia's 1-0 home victory in their Nations League clash in early September, were on a two-game losing streak and opted to start without all-time top scorer Robert Lewandowski in favour of 20-year-old Kacper Urbanski.
Poland were aggressive from the start, with Captain Piotr Zielinski scoring the opening goal in the fifth minute from a tight angle.
The hosts, however, suffered a dramatic collapse as Croatia scored three quick goals, with Borna Sosa capitalising on a rebound in the Polish box to level the score in the 19th minute with a volley into the far corner.
Petar Sucic gave Croatia the lead with a composed finish, and shortly after, Martin Baturina made it 3-1 by deftly placing the ball between Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka's legs in the 26th minute.
Poland were reeling but Nicola Zalewski's stunning goal just before halftime gave them a glimmer of hope in a thrilling, action-packed first half.
In the final seconds before the break, Jakub Kaminski unleashed a powerful shot that looked destined for the Croatian net, only for keeper Livakovic to pull off an extraordinary save that preserved the visitors' lead into the break.
That advantage lasted until shortly after the hour mark when Lewandowski set up Sebastian Szymanski to equalise in the 68th minute with a low shot into the left corner.
The drama was not finished however as Croatia's Livakovic was sent off for fouling Lewandowski in the 76th minute, yet the hosts failed to capitalise
Poland next travel to Portugal on Nov. 15 before hosting Scotland three days later, while Croatia visit the Scots and welcome Portugal in their last two group-stage fixtures.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Warsaw, Editing by Toby Davis)
