WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Robert Lewandowski proved once again to be Poland’s lethal weapon on Tuesday, scoring deep in stoppage time to earn his team a 2-1 victory over 10-man Armenia in their World Cup qualifier.
The Poland captain struck in the 95th minute at the National Stadium in Warsaw, scoring for the eighth consecutive qualifier and just three days after his hat trick secured a 3-2 win over Denmark.
Armenia’s Gael Andonian was sent off in the 30th minute after he received two yellow cards in two minutes, but the hosts struggled to use the numerical advantage until Lewandowski’s goal.
Armenia’s Hrayr Mkoyan netted an own goal to put the hosts 1-0 up in the 48th minute and Marcos Pinheiro’s answer was quick, leveling the score just two minutes later.
With only the winner qualifying automatically, Poland is tied atop the group with Montenegro as it chases its first World Cup appearance since 2006. Romania trails by two points while Denmark is another two points behind. Armenia is at the bottom without a point.
Other matches in Group E:
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DENMARK 0, MONTENEGRO 1
After claiming the biggest home victory, a 5-0 rout of Kazakhstan at home on Saturday, Fatos Beciraj’s goal in the 32nd minute lifted Montenegro to an away victory, its first over Denmark. Beciraj also netted one on Saturday.
The tiny Balkan nation, currently 105th in the FIFA ranking, has never qualified for the final World Cup tournament. It has seven points from three games.
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KAZAKHSTAN 0, ROMANIA 0
Favorite Romania dropped two points in a goalless draw at Kazakhstan.
It was the second home draw for Kazakhstan, which drew 2-2 with Poland before being thrashed 5-0 in Montenegro in the previous round. It was the eighth winless home match for the Kazakhs since September 2014.
Romanian TV network DolceSport reported that money and other objects had been stolen from players and staff at the national team’s hotel before the match.
Andrei Vochin, personal adviser to Romanian Football Federation chairman Razvan Burleanu, told DolceSport that “we didn’t find out who stole the money and all the objects. Anyway, we don’t have much hope.”
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