Euro 2024: Poland 1-3 Austria – Arnautovic’s Penalty Sparks Austria’s First Victory

Austria had a great start to the game and had total control of the action before Poland had a chance to settle in. After just nine minutes, Austrian center-half Gernot Trauner blasted home from eight yards out with a header of exceptional quality, adding to the early pressure.

He twisted his body to angle it into Wojciech Szczesny’s goal on the upper left corner. It got better faster than it could have started. In addition, it was Austria’s fastest goal in the Euros ever—and since the 1954 World Cup, its fastest goal at a major competition.

However, the Poles gradually grew more comfortable with the task at hand, and in the thirty-minute mark, a composed Kryzsztof Piatek put the ball past Patrick Pentz in the Austrian goal, rewarding their intent.

Both sides were tied at one goal at the break, but Austria appeared to be the team that was more motivated to win this time around. Poland brought in all-time top scorer Robert Lewandowski during the second half, but the change had little effect on the outcome of the match.

With a beautiful dummy from Marko Arnautovic in the 66th minute, Christoph Baumgartner gave Austria the lead once more. Before completing in style, he rushed onto the through pass and sent the goalie the wrong way.

It served as an illustration of the magic touch that Arnautovic can provide. But then a little later, we saw the opposite side of the maverick who picked up a yellow for just randomly shoving an opponent player aside.

The goal, however, seemed to have made Austria even more pacy and Poland were simply unable to keep up. If 2-1 still seemed a bit shaky, Sabitzer’s side was awarded a penalty when Szczesny took him down by catching him on the ankle as he dove at his feet.

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Arnautovic made it 3-1 and secured their first victory of the competition by sending Szczesney the wrong way and placing the ball into the lower right corner.

Despite Bayern Munich’s interest, coach Ralf Rangnick stuck with the team because he had the appropriate strategy, and Austria’s combination of strong running, quick transitions, and intense pressing was too much for Poland.

Austria proved to be formidable in their opening encounter against France, but with France and the Netherlands, two formidable teams in the group, this was a game they had to win, and they did it with a display that should serve them well against any opponent.

In any case, they have earned the right to hope for a Round of 16 run, but for now, the final group game will be critical.