Robert Lewandowski was given a second bite of the cherry from the penalty spot in Poland’s final match of the European Championship. Poland were awarded a late penalty following a VAR intervention and Barcelona talisman Lewandowski stepped up to take it.
Lewandowski was denied by Mike Maignan in the France goal, but the Pole immediately began to signal with his hand that Maignan had come off his line prematurely and that the penalty should be retaken. The officials agreed, and Lewandowski was allowed to re-take the penalty, and scored.
Why Lewandowski’s Penalty Was Retaken
Poland star was handed reprieve
It is a rule that the defending goalkeeper must stay on their goal line until the penalty taker has made contact with the ball. On this occasion, Maignan had come a foot or so off his line before Lewandowski had struck the ball. IFAB’s Law 14 states: “The defending goalkeeper must remain on the goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts, without touching the goalposts, crossbar or goal net, until the ball is kicked.”
BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards questioned Lewandowski’s stuttered run-up for the penalty, with Richards suggesting that it had an impact on Maignan’s movement. Richards told the BBC: “All this stopping, the keeper doesn’t know when to go! He’s waiting, anticipating, and by the time he takes the penalty he’s off his line!”
Shearer added: “I’m not a fan of that run-up. But you could see straight away Lewandowski, when he hit the first one, he was saying straight away that he was off his line. And he gets the chance to put the second one in, and he’s not going to make the same mistake again.”
Kylian Mbappe struggled on his return to the team after missing the draw with the Netherlands due to a broken nose. Frank Lampard was also on punditry duty and said that France have an overreliance on their star player. Lampard said: “Mbappe can make something out of any moment in the game. He does some great things and I think they have a bit of an overreliance on him. I would be a bit frustrated with him though. I’d be saying, ‘I understand that you roam, but you have got to be getting yourself in there when the ball is in the box. When a player is that special you have to find a way.”
France Now Facing Nightmare Run to Final
Draw comes at a cost for Deschamps’ men
France’s failure to beat Poland ensured they finished second in Group D, behind Austria. France beat Austria in their opening game of the tournament, but could only draw their next two matches against the Netherlands and Poland, while Austria beat both of those teams to finish on six points.
France now find themselves in the same quarter of the draw as Portugal, and the same half of the draw as France and Spain.