Football
2022 World Cup Qualifying - UEFA, Group Stage
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Reuters 2y

Crowd trouble, thrown bottles briefly halt Poland's World Cup qualifying win over Albania

Poland beat Albania 1-0 to reclaim second place in Group I after their World Cup qualifier was temporarily suspended when bottles were thrown on the pitch in the second half on Tuesday.

The Group I match was interrupted soon after Poland forward Karol Swiderski scored inside the box following an assist from midfielder Mateusz Klich in the 77th minute.

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Albania were missing several key players, with striker Sokol Cikalleshi being the last one to withdraw from the squad with COVID-19, but they still managed to dominate the first half.

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After an intense battle, and several missed chances by both sides, Poland got on top in the second period and scored through Swiderski, whose goal sparked the crowd trouble and suspension.

Poland have 17 points from eight games, three points behind leaders England and two points ahead of Albania with two games left. The group winners qualify for the 2022 finals in Qatar, while the second-placed team go into the playoffs.

An interview with Swiderski after fulltime was cut short as Poland team manager Jakub Kwiatkowski encouraged him to leave as bottles were being thrown at him.

"After the goal there were full bottles flying in, so it was a bit dangerous, but we came back and finished the game," Bayern Munich forward and Poland captain Robert Lewandowski told reporters.

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