Group C sides battle out a scoreless stalemate defined by moment of brilliance from Mexico\u2019s veteran goalkeeper.<\/p>\n
Mexico and Poland have played out a 0-0 stalemate in their opening Group C fixture as Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa\u2019s pivotal second-half penalty save denied striker Robert Lewandowski his first World Cup goal.<\/p>\n
A sea of Mexico fans in green outnumbered their Polish counterparts and made their presence felt on Tuesday in the 40,000-capacity Stadium 974.<\/p>\n
But action on the pitch was somewhat more subdued as both sides proved blunt in attack during a largely forgettable first half.<\/p>\n
Mexico dominated possession throughout, but without Raul Jimenez spearheading the attack, Henry Martin struggled to get on the end of chances in the box.<\/p>\n
At the other end, Poland failed to get Lewandowski involved with the Barcelona striker, who has scored 18 goals for the Spanish club this season, receiving precious little service.<\/p>\n
With Poland losing the midfield battle, coach Czeslaw Michniewicz made a half-time substitution by hauling off Nicola Zalewski and bringing on central midfielder Krystian Bielik, which allowed Piotr Zielinski to play in an advanced role.<\/p>\n
The tactical change seemed to work initially as Poland began creating chances and eventually won a 58th-minute penalty following a VAR review after Hector Moreno got hold of Lewandowski\u2019s shirt and pulled him down.<\/p>\n
Lewandowski shot low from the spot but the 37-year-old Ochoa, playing in his fifth World Cup, guessed correctly and dived to his left to prevent Poland\u2019s captain. The 34-year-old is his country\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 76 goals but still remains without a World Cup goal.<\/p>\n
Not to be outdone by Ochoa\u2019s brilliance, Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny also underlined his credentials moments later when he reacted quickly, changed direction and denied a glancing header from Martin.<\/p>\n
Mexico coach Gerardo Martino replaced Martin and brought on Jimenez with 20 minutes to go in the second half, but the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, who is returning from a long injury lay-off, failed to have a shot on goal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Group C sides battle out a scoreless stalemate defined by moment of brilliance from Mexico\u2019s veteran goalkeeper. Mexico and Poland have played out a 0-0 stalemate in their opening Group C fixture as Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa\u2019s pivotal second-half penalty save denied striker Robert Lewandowski his first World Cup goal. A sea of Mexico fans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":112502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6640,22],"tags":[6413,750,1203],"class_list":["post-112501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fifa-2022","category-sports","tag-fifa-world-cup-2022","tag-mexico","tag-poland"],"yoast_head":"\n