England held by Poland

England were held to a 1-1 draw by Poland yesterday in a Group H qualifier that went ahead a day late after Tuesday’s scheduled kick-off was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.

Wayne Rooney sent the Poles’ morale sinking 15 minutes from half-time, heading in a corner from captain Steven Gerrard for his 30th goal in an England shirt.

Poland’s answer came in the 70th minute, thanks to Torino defender Kamil Glik, courtesy of another header from a corner.

“It wasn’t one of our best performances,” admitted England manager Roy Hodgson, whose side still lead the group by one point from Montenegro.

“But there were factors – the pitch was difficult, soggy and the ball was not moving well. It was more suited to a long ball game rather than passing.

“We weren’t good in possession but got a result and we showed the necessary character. We are still unbeaten and it’s good to get something out of a game when we didn’t play well.”

England goalkeeper Joe Hart took responsibility for the goal, having flapped as he tried to clear the corner.

“It was my fault and it cost us three points. They were knocking on the door but it was never going to open unless there was a mistake,” he said.

Conscious of their underdog image, Poland took the game to their rivals from kick-off.

The game had been billed as a personal battle between Poland’s Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski and Manchester City keeper Hart, who recently did battle in the Champions League.

But with Lewandowski failing to shine in the half, it was midfielder Kamil Grosicki who first sent home fans’ pulses racing in the 58,000-capacity Kazimierz Gorski Stadium, though poor control stymied his effort.

England took their chance after 15 minutes but James Milner’s lateral pass failed to find a team-mate before goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton smothered the ball.

Milner then fed Jermain Defoe up front but the latter lost the battle with Poland captain Marcin Wasilewski, standing in for the injured Kuba Blaszczykowski.

Two minutes later, Poland powered back, with Grosicki finding Lewandowski in the box, only for newcomer Pawel Wszolek to fail to latch onto the pass.

A minute after Rooney’s goal put England up and for the remainder of the half both teams failed to capitalise on corners and free-kicks as strikes from Glen Johnson and Grosicki went wide minutes from the whistle.

After the interval, Poland upped the pace in a drive to close the deficit, with Obraniak firing over the bar in the 49th minute, followed by Lewandowski 10 minutes later.

A lone run by substitute Danny Welbeck then found Tyton floundering, but Rooney failed to make it 2-0.

Poland’s traditionally unforgiving fans began to harangue their team, but were suddenly silenced when an Obraniak corner found Glik, who earned his second Poland goal, as Hart came for the ball and was left stranded.

Ten minutes later, Poland were inches away from pulling ahead, as yet another Obraniak corner found Glik.

Three minutes from time, Milner found himself free, only for Tyton to beat him, before Obraniak pounded at Hart twice, the second time forcing the England keeper into a lunging save.

The Poles had been aware that history was against them having beaten England just once – in the race to qualify for the 1974 World Cup – and drawn six times in a total of 17 previous meetings.

Standings - Group H