Lewandowski Misses Penalty As Poland, Mexico Ends In Goalless Draw

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty in the second half of their Group C opener against Mexico with the match ending in a goalless draw.

Lewandowski was brought down in the area by Hector Moreno 11 minutes into the second half and decided to take the penalty himself after a lengthy VAR review. But his effort was stopped by veteran Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa.

The miss meant that Lewandowski has still not scored a World Cup goal.

Mexico had the bulk of the possession but struggled to get on the end of chances in the box.

With Poland losing the midfield battle, coach Czeslaw Michniewicz made a halftime substitution by hauling off Nicola Zalewski and bringing on central midfielder Krystian Bielik.

The tactical change worked initially as Poland began creating chances and eventually won the penalty which Lewandowski shot low but Ochoa guessed correctly and dived to his left to deny the skipper.

Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny also reacted quickly at the other side of the pitch to change direction and deny Mexico’s Martin glancing header that was on target.

The result leaves Saudi Arabia as group leaders following their stunning win over Argentina earlier in the day.