Slovakia shock 10-men Poland 2-1 in Euro 2020 opener

Slovakia secured their only second Euro win ever after Milan Skriniar's late winner blew past Poland to snatch a 2-1 victory into Group E in Saint Peterburg Stadium on Monday.

Poland dominated possession but weren't able to do much in the opening stages meanwhile Slovakia lurked for fast breaks and kept an eye on Poland's prolific striker Robert Lewandowski.

As the match progressed, Slovakia grew in confidence and came to a promising chance in the 14th minute when Ondrej Duda unleashed a dangerous shot into the side netting.

The Slovaks built on their momentum and flabbergasted Poland with the opener in the 18th minute. Robert Mak danced through Poland's defense and unleashed a hammer which ricocheted off the near post before bouncing off goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who got credited with an unfortunate own goal.

Poland's offense around Lewandowski still didn't spark to life and had to take a deserved 1-0 deficit into the halftime.

Things chanced immediately after the interval, as Poland needed only 27 seconds to level the score after Maciej Rybus' assist allowed Karol Linetty to finish the job from six meters.

Paulo Manuel Carvalho Sousa's men continued with their guns blazing and should have taken the lead in the 51st minute but Slovakia's custodian Martin Dubravka was on guard to defuse Linetty's promising shot on target.

The Polish started an onslaught on Slovakia's territory but just when they were about to take over, Grzegorz Krychowiak got sent off for his second bookable offense to weaken his squad.

Slovakia immediately took advantage on outnumbered Poles and sealed the deal in the 69th minute when a corner from Mak found its way to Skriniar, who made no mistake and drilled the ball from 14 meters into the top left angle.

Poland threw every man up front but for all that neither Lewandowski nor Jan Bednarek was able to snatch a late draw.

"We expected a game like this. We were able to keep Lewandowski out of the match. The first half was great. We were asleep for a while at the start of the second half, but we managed to score again and survive the closing minutes," said Slovakia coach Stefan Tarkovic.

"It's unbelievable, it's hard to describe. Few people expected us to take the victory today, but we went for it. It could have been better. I hadn't played a match for a month and it felt like it. But we went for it and we won it," said Slovakia captain Marek Hamsik.

With the result, Slovakia top Group E while Poland sit on the last place for now as Spain face Sweden later on Monday for the second game. On Friday, Slovakia will encounter Sweden whereas Spain are to meet Poland, who will be under pressure on Saturday.