Milan Skriniar fires Slovakia to victory against Poland after Grzegorz Krychowiak red card

• Slovakia took a 1-0 lead in at half time after Robert Mak forced Wojciech Szczesny into an own goal

• Poland equalised after the restart through Karol Linetty, but the game changed when Grzegorz Krychowiak saw red before a decisive strike from Milan Skriniar

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Milan Skriniar's second-half goal earned Slovakia a 2-1 win over 10-man Poland in their opening Euro 2020 Group E match.

Skriniar beat Wojciech Szczesny with a low drive in the 69th minute, capitalising on the sending-off of Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak following a second booking for a challenge on Jakub Hromada.

Poland's woes began in the 18th minute when a strike by Robert Mak bounced off Szczesny's near post and slipped into the net after hitting the goalkeeper.

The Poles equalised seconds after half time through Karol Linetty, a surprise starter in Paulo Sousa's team.

Nonetheless, momentum swung back in the favour of Slovakia after Krychowiak picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Jakub Hromada. Skriniar scored the winner not long afterwards.

Slovakia's win put them top of Group E, with Sweden and Spain meeting in their opening match later on in Seville.

Reuters

05:58 PM

Full time, Poland 1 Slovakia 2

It all looked so promising for Poland early in the second half, with Karol Linetty's goal undoing much of Slovakia's good work.

It's hard not to see Krychowiak's red card as the defining moment of the game. With the momentum tilting in their favour, Poland were stopped in their tracks and, forced to change their shape and drop deep, they never really regained their composure.

05:53 PM

90+3 mins

Lewandowski manages to lay the ball off to Swiderski on the edge of the area, but he can only draw a routine save from Dubravka.

05:51 PM

90 mins

That may be it for Poland.

Bednarek gets two chances to score, swiping at the ball before drilling it wide of the upright. There'll be four minutes of added time, but they won't get a better opportunity than that.

05:48 PM

87 mins

Glik tries to get a cross in, but it's deflected and falls onto the roof of the net.

From the ensuing corner, Lewandowski comes within a hair's breadth of getting his head on the ball.

05:47 PM

More subs

Sousa makes another double change, Klich and Zielinski coming off for Jakub Moder and Karol Swiderski.

Once again, Tarkovic follows his lead. Haraslin and Mak swap out for Michal Duris and Tomas Suslov.

05:44 PM

82 mins

Slovakia are looking to wrap things up here, winning soft fouls and looking to exhaust and exasperate their opponents.

Poland are still battling, however. They win a corner which is cleared as far as Puchacz, who blasts one just over.

05:39 PM

Slovakia ring the changes

Tarkovic matches Sousa by making two substitutions, Hromada and Pekarik coming off for Patrik Hrosovsky and Martin Koscelnik.

05:34 PM

Double substitution for Poland

Sousa brings off Rybus and Linetty, with Tymoteusz Puchacz and Przemyslaw Frankowski replacing them.

05:33 PM

71 mins

Zielinski has a crack from distance, but fails to test Dubravka.

Poland won't get many more chances, so they really can't afford to waste them like that.

05:30 PM

GOAL! Poland 1 Slovakia 2

Haraslin wins a corner with a deflected shot which goes just wide.

The delivery falls to Skriniar, who turns on his heel and lashes into the back of the net. This game has completely changed in the blink of an eye.

05:26 PM

RED CARD!

Having picked up a yellow card in the first half, Krychowiak catches Jakub Hromada and leaves referee Ovidiu Hategan with little choice but to show him red.

Just as Poland seemed to be in the ascendancy, they have been dealt a massive setback. They immediately switch their shape, forming up into two banks of four.

05:18 PM

57 mins

Poland have looked like a different side since the break, playing between the lines, creating space and dragging Slovakia's defenders out of position.

Rybus wins a free kick in a dangerous position and Lewandowski steps up. His shot hits the wall and goes out for a corner, but Slovakia get it clear.

05:12 PM

52 mins

Linetty almost has another, this time after a pinpoint cross from Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich.

Dubravka reads the situation and makes a smart save. Soon afterwards, Zielinski floats a ball into the box and Glik heads over.

05:07 PM

GOAL! Poland 1 Slovakia 1

Not a bad start to the half for Poland, that.

A one-touch passing move sees Rybus get in behind and square for Karol Linetty, who sidefoots past Dubravka. Lewandowski made a clever, ghosting run to create the space for his teammates.

05:04 PM

Teams back out

... and the second half is about to get underway.

Can Lewandowski come up with a moment of magic here? Or will Slovakia continue to shackle him? Let's find out.

04:53 PM

Half time, Poland 0 Slovakia 1

Slovakia deserve their lead, having frustrated Poland for much of the first half.

While they haven't necessarily been dominant, Hamsik and co have broken up Poland's passing play, limited them to shots from distance and, most importantly, constrained Lewandowski. Poland need to massively up their game to turn this around.

04:45 PM

44 mins

Hamsik has a pop from distance, but it's blocked by Jan Bednarek

04:43 PM

41 mins

Maciej Rybus gets a cross to Lewandowski in the box, but he snatches at the shot under pressure and it's off target.

04:37 PM

35 mins

Zielinski has his first bright moment of the match, cutting inside and firing just wide.

Slovakia go up the other end and Hamsik sends a speculative long-range effort past the far post.

04:36 PM

33 mins

Slovakia right-back Peter Pekarik gets forwards before finding Duda, but his header is straight at Szczesny.

Moments later, Krychowiak wins the ball high up the pitch and leathers one just over Martin Dubravka's goal.

04:30 PM

27 mins

Slovakia have another decent chance, Juraj Kucka smashing one inches over the crossbar from range.

04:29 PM

23 mins

Both sides show a penchant for cynically breaking up counter-attacks, with Tomas Hubocan and Grzegorz Krychowiak booked in quick succesion.

04:27 PM

Szczesny own goal?

It appears that the goal has actually been credited to Szczesny, which is seriously harsh on Mak given how much individual skill it took to make it happen.

Replays show that the ball ricocheted off the Poland keeper before crossing the line. Still, Mak deserves all the credit.

04:21 PM

GOAL! Poland 0 Slovakia 1

Slovakia go ahead through a fantastic solo goal from Robert Mak.

Picking the ball up on the left flank, he dribbles past Kamil Jozwiak, nutmegs Bartosz Bereszynski and dances into the box. He unleashes a shot which takes a slight nick off Kamil Glik, deceives Szczesny and goes in at the near post.

04:15 PM

12 mins

Ondrej Duda works an opening on the edge of the area and slashes a shot just wide of the near post.

Szczesny had it covered, but it still gave him a scare. Otherwise, both sides have made a bitty start to the game.

04:08 PM

4 mins

Lewandowski almost gets in behind before cutting back and taking aim, but Slovakia's defenders amass to block the shot.

04:05 PM

2 mins

Slovakia win the first free kick of the game and Hamsik whips it in.

It briefly causes chaos in the box, before Lewandowski fulfils his defensive duties and clears. Slovakia excel at set pieces, so Poland should take that as a warning.

03:55 PM

Teams in the tunnel

... and kick off is imminent.

First up, the national anthems.

03:40 PM

Sousa feels 'double responsibility'

Poland are managed by former Portugal international Paulo Sousa, who has spoken about how motivated he is to succeed at Euro 2020.

"It is a double responsibility to represent a country like Poland because of what you have been through in the past," he said in his pre-match press conference. "It's a duty for me and for all our players to present on the pitch the identity of all Poles, where all Poles can feel proud.

"That positive pressure, before the first match and before all the matches, it happens, it's with me, because I want to see all the players perform and to have all our country proud in what we are doing.

"With lots of emotions, hopefully these emotions at the end of the game will be really, really positive. We want to return back to Poland with a big smile and [knowing] everything we've done in the last few weeks has worked."

03:13 PM

Slovakia team news

Slovakia starting XI (4-2-3-1): Dubravka; Pekarik, Satka, Skriniar, Hubocan; Kucka, Hromada; Haraslin, Hamsik, Mak; Duda.

03:12 PM

Poland team news

Poland starting XI (3-4-3): Szczesny; Bereszynski, Glik, Bednarek; Rybus, Linetty, Krychowiak, Klich; Jozwiak, Lewandowski, Zielinski.

03:00 PM

Lewandowski on the hunt for goals

It would be easy to make the mistake of assuming that the Poland national team is essentially the Robert Lewandowski show.

While he is, without doubt, the face of Polish football, Lewandowski is certainly not their only game changer. Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Napoli playmaker Piotr Zielinski, up-and-coming Red Bull Salzburg defender Kamil Piatkowski: there is serious quality all through the squad.

Still, if Slovakia intend to beat Poland this evening, they will have to formulate a strategy for blunting Lewandowski's lethal edge in front of goal. Coming off the back of a season in which he broke Gerd Muller's 49-year-old Bundesliga goalscoring record – netting 41 times in only 29 league appearances for Bayern Munich, despite missing almost a month of the campaign with a knee injury – he is probably the most dangerous striker in Europe even if he is yet to really make his mark at a major international tournament.

Poland arrive at the Euros in mixed form, having drawn both of their warm-up matches against Russia and Iceland and won only one in five of their previous games. Nonetheless, they are favourites to beat a Slovakia side which has fewer big names.

Napoli legend Marek Hamsik is still their midfield talisman, though he is now 33 and has spent the last two years playing for Dalian Professional in the Chinese Super League before a brief spell in Sweden with IFK Goteborg. Ruled out of Slovakia's warm-up matches with a calf injury, he has declared himself fit to face Poland.

Stefan Tarkovic's side also boast Inter Milan centre-back Milan Skriniar in defence. His performances were central to Inter winning Serie A last term.

In a tricky group also comprised of Spain and Sweden, Poland and Slovakia both know that this is a hugely important game. Speaking earlier this week, Hamsik said: "The Poles are definitely a very tough opponent.

"They have immense quality up front, so we have to defend really well... [but] we're really looking forward to it.

"We're ready to go out there, sing the anthem and give everything we have."