KEIR RADNEDGE in MOSCOW: Poland were left fuming after the pain of a 2-1 defeat by Senegal was compounded by the bizarre, killing second goal.

On the hour Senegal were down to 10 men with Torino striker Mbaye Niang off the pitch receiving treatment for a leg injury. Bahraini referee Nawaf Shukralla waved him back on just as Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak hit a long back pass aimed for keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Niang, seizing his god fortune, raced on to the ball, past the goalkeeper and ran in Senegal’s second goal. Captain Robert Lewandowski led Poland’s protests to Shukralla in vain.

Senegal had taken a first-half lead through an own goal off Thiago Cionek and Poland one back, just too late, through midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak.

Coach Aliou Cisse’s were thus the only one of five African teams not to suffer defeat in the opening fixtures.

Poland had taken the early initiative but without causing Khadim Ndiaye in the Senegal goal any serious trouble. Kamil Grosicki once went close with a diving header but that was all they could muster.

Senegal, at the game went on, grew in confidence and use of the ball. They had pace at their disposal and began to make the Poles look clumsy.

Niang led the line with skill and intelligence and broke clear in the 37th minute to feed Sadio Mane who pushed the ball on for Idrissa Gueye to take a pot at goal. Szczesny, moving right, appeared to have the shot covered but it deflected off Cionek’s trailing leg and past the keeper’s left hand.

Poland, already missing centre back Kamil Glik through injury, suffered a further blow when rightwing Jakub Blaszczykowski had to be substituted with an ankle problem at halftime.

Lewandowski, anonymous in the first half, began to put himself about at last and drew a first serious save out of Ndiaye with a free kick after Salif Sane had pulled him down. Sane was a little fortunate to collect only a yellow card.

But then Niang snatched Senegal’s opportunist second goal and Krychowiak’s header in the 85th minute was no more than poor Polish consolation.

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