Euro2012: Czech Republic win, Poland hold Russia

The 2012 European Championships continued for the Group A teams tonight with their second round group matches in the Polish cities of Wroclaw and Warsaw. The Czech Republic returned into contention for a place in the last eight with a win against Greece, while co-hosts Poland held Russia to a draw. All teams in the group still have a chance to move into the knockout stages.


GROUP A

Greece 1-2 (0-2) Czech Republic
Goals: 0-1 Petr Jiráček (3'), 0-2 Václav Pilař (6'), 1-2 Theofanis Gekas (53')

The Czech Republic returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win against Greece to stay in contention for a quarterfinal spot as they made a perfect start with two goals within six minutes, but the Greeks came back into contention though it wasn't enough to earn a point.

The Czechs went ahead through a Petr Jiráček strike as early as the third minute and Václav Pilař doubled the lead in the sixth minute as it seemed they had won the match early on. The Czech's could have scored more in the first session, but it remained 2-0 at the break.

After the breather Greece came back into the match with Theofanis Gekas scoring in the 53rd minute following a rare Petr Čech mistake, but it remained 2-1 for the Czech Republic until the end.


Poland 1-1 (0-1) Russia
Goals: 0-1 Alan Dzagoev (37'), 1-1 Jakub Błaszczykowski (57')

Co-hosts Poland came back from a goal down to hold the mighty Russia to a one-all draw. Young Alan Dzagoev gave the Russians a first half lead, which was egalised by Polish captain Jakub Błaszczykowski.

Poland like in their opening match against Greece made a good start into the match, but this time around failed to score. But once the Russians got their act together they were a threat to the vulnerable Polish defence which cracked in the 37th minute when Alan Dzagoev scored his third goal of the tournament.

But Poland wasn't shocked as they tried to get back into the game with Robert Lewandowski having two good chances after restart. Then came Jakub Błaszczykowski's moment of brilliance in the 57th minute as he scored with a beautiful left-footer which beat Malafeev in the Russian goal. Both teams had their chances towards the end, but it stayed one-all until the end.