The clash between Poland and Croatia in the fourth round of the Nations League started brilliantly for the Polish team. Piotr Zieliński scored in the fifth minute, and the team played probably the best quarter of an hour during Michał Probierz's term. Unfortunately, it all ended with the opponent's first shot in the 19th minute. Borna Sosa defeated Marcin Bułka with a strong shot, and Croatia took a 3-1 lead in the next minutes. Just before the break, Nicola Zalewski reduced the deficit. After the change of sides, the Poles managed to equalize thanks to Sebastian Szymański's goal.
The Croatian coach blurted out after the match. “Two Cardinal Errors”
Ultimately, the score was a 3-3 draw. – Well, we draw 3-3. We started the match badly and lost a goal quickly. Then we scored three goals in quick succession, but the key thing was what happened at the end of the first half. If we hadn't conceded the second goal just before the break, I think the match would have ended completely differently. That's why I think we should have played better, especially in the first half – was analyzed by the visiting coach Zlatko Dalić at the press conference, who considered this draw to be a good result.
An important point of this match was a red card for goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic in the 76th minute. The Croatian ruthlessly attacked Robert Lewandowski, but according to Zlatko Dalić, he should not have been sent off. – What I saw in the video has nothing to do with exclusion. Livaković cleared the ball three meters in front of Lewandowski and hooked him. This is not exclusion. Matanović was fouled in the first half during the first goal by the Poles. These are two cardinal mistakes, said the Croatian coach to the national media.
– These were the referees' mistakes, I won't say that they deprived us of the win. In fact, we have deprived ourselves of it. We were leading 3-1 and our mistake was to bring Poland back into the game. We silenced the crowd, played a fantastic half-hour and then conceded the second goal, but in the end we showed character, if someone had offered us four points before the October games, we would have accepted it, Dalić continued.
A few days earlier, his team beat Scotland 2-1 and has seven points after four games. Poland is three points behind. In November, the Croatians will face an away game against Scotland, which is last in the table, and a home game against leaders Portugal. The Poles will first play away against Portugal, and then they will host the Scots.