Nice (France): Arkadiusz Milik scored as Poland beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in a Group C match of the Euro football championship here on Sunday.
Milik broke the resistance of Northern Ireland in the 51st minute as the Ajax forward hit a low left-footed shot beyond goalkeeper Michael McGovern from just inside the penalty area.
The goal proved to be the winner for the Polish, who earned their first win in the UEFA European Championship at the seventh time of asking.
The task facing the debutants Northern Ireland was apparent early on. Poland, with their full-backs overlapping and Milik operating in a free role behind Bayern Munich hit-man Robert Lewandowski, swarmed all over their opponents, dominating possession and territory.
The possession figure was as high as 75 per cent at one stage during a first half in which Milik, after Aukasz Piszczek skipped around Gareth McAuley, fired over and left-winger Bartosz Kapustka, 19, stung the palms of McGovern.
The wave of white shirts did not relent after the restart and the breakthrough Adam Nawalka’s team had been threatening eventually arrived when Milik struck, sweeping Jakub BLaszczykowski cut-back into McGovern’s bottom left-hand corner.
After this goal, Poland held on to the lead to seal three points and jumped to the top spot in the Group C.
