Poland now have 19 points from eight games. (Source: Reuters)
Poland cemented their grip on Group E as headers by Arkadiusz Milik and Kamil Glik and a Robert Lewandowski penalty secured a 3-0 win over Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier on Monday.
Poland now have 19 points from eight games, three clear of second-placed Denmark, who surprisingly thrashed them 4-0 on Friday, and Montenegro in third with two matches remaining.
Milik, who has returned to action after suffering a knee injury in the 3-2 win over Denmark in October, opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a powerful close-range header.
A defensive Kazakhstan side held out until the break and had the ball in the net themselves just after halftime but striker Roman Murtazayev’s 48th minute effort was given offside.
Another controversial moment came in the 71st minute when captain Lewandowski’s free kick appeared to cross the line but referee Andris Treimanis did not award a goal.
“I am disappointed… it was certainly a goal. I’ve seen it from 25 metres and the referee was standing even closer. It was odd that he denied it, but fortunately we managed to get another goals and win the match,” said Lewandowksi.
Three minutes after Lewandowski’s effort was disallowed Poland did score again through defender Kamil Glik’s unstoppable header from Piotr Zielinski’s corner before the Bayern Munich striker wrapped up the win with an 86th minute penalty.
“We could have scored more,” added Lewandowski. “I see no reason to hide that we lacked (a killer instinct) and quality in the last pass. The final score could have been much greater than 3-0.”
