(Football news) The Czech’s scored two goals within the first three minutes and a goal from Jan Kuchta strike helped them cruise past Poland in a 3-1 win in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier match. The Czechs ruined the debut of new Poland manager Fernando Santos by netting the first goal in just 27 seconds after kickoff in the Group E match. Ladislav Krejci out-jumped the Polish defender to head home a Vladimir Coufal’s long throw in.
For the Czech side, two players making their senior debut combined to double the lead, as Tomas Cvancara fired in a cross to David Jurasek from the left flank as he tapped it past Wojciech Szczesny. The visitors had total control over the possession for large spells following their tough start but the Czechs put the final nail in the coffin in the 64th minute when Jan Kuchta tapped in Alex Kral’s cross. Damian Szymanski got a consolation goal for Poland in the 87th minute. The Czechs were without injured Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick as they travel to Moldova on Monday while the Polish host Albania in Group E.
“We started very well and we thought we had to go on like that and not to slow down because Poland has a big quality,” Cvancara told Czech Television. “We played a very good game tonight.”
Austria got an emphatic win as Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer scored twice as they profited from a dominant first-half performance to secure a 4-1 win over Azerbaijan in their opening Euro 2024 Group F qualifier. Sabitzer, who recently scored his first goal for Manchester United, started the scoring as he collected a pass from Christoph Baumgartner and thrashed the ball into the net for the just before the half-hour mark.
Austria doubled their advantage a minute later as this time Augsburg striker Michael Gregoritsch scored, before Sabitzer produced an inch perfect free-kick into the top corner early in the second half. Azerbaijan managed to pull a goal back when Emin Makhmudov scored as they briefly threatened a comeback, but Baumgartner got the much deserved goal for his excellent performance to restore the three-goal advantage
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