England's Crucial Point

England earned a vital point in their rearranged Group H fixture away in Warsaw. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring on the half hour mark for the visitors, with a header from a Steven Gerrard corner. However, Poland equalised with 20 minutes left through Kamil Glik's header, after beating Lescott and keeper Joe Hart to the ball.

The point was all England deserved after a sloppy performance. The main positive to take from the game was that the Three Lions remain unbeaten and top the group. When England travel to Podgorica in March, they will expect to be in second place behind Montenegro, who have a game in hand on England, when they host San Marino.



Another unsuccessful pitch inspection from referee Gianluca Rocchi 

After the farcicial scenes of Tuesday night, the Group H qualifier eventually kicked off later than scheduled, on a less than suitable playing surface.




The pitch at Poland's National Stadium on Tuesday night

Poland were the dominant force throughout with lots of attacking intent and the aid of a mistake strewn England team. No excuses can be made for England's dismal performance, as the pitch and the previous day's event were the same for both sides. Hart had to be alert from early on as Piszczek broke the England defence and the Manchester City stopper dived at the Polish players feet to block the shot. Soon after the hosts momentum grew as Kamil Grosicki and then Robert Lewandowski both shot wide. Despite this pressure, it was England who took the lead when Steven Gerrard's corner was glanced in by Wayne Rooney, taking him to 32 England goals.

After the break, Glen Johnson made a superb last ditch tackle after Phil Jagielka miskicked his clearance. Jermain Defoe, who was anonyomous for most, had the chance to put England two up and surely seal the victory, but he managed to put Gerrard's free-kick back across the face of goal, from only a few yards out. It was then Rooney's turn to be wasteful as Welbeck reached a James Milner through ball and then pulled back to his Manchester United team-mate, whose effort didn't test the Polish keeper Tyton. These missed opportunities proved costly for England 20 minutes from time, when Karim Glik headed into a free net, after Joe Hart came to punch but missed completely. After the match Hart claimed it was his "fault". Late on Milner surged down the right and his tempting cross, across the six-yard box was claimed by Tyton.

Polish fans came equipped after the previous nights events. 

 

Both teams looked satisfied with a point, England more so than the hosts Poland. England's next qualifier is away to minnows San Marino in March whilst Poland hosts Ukraine, in the battle of EURO 2012 host nations.