Kuba and Piszczek Impress in Polish Victory Over Northern Ireland

Piszczek and Kuba were excellent for Poland today in their 1-0 win over Northern Ireland. The chemistry between the two that was so evident in Dortmund’s back to back Bundesliga titles and Champions League final run is still there.

With both men lining up on the right side of a 4-4-2, they consistently played excellent combinations that saw them take turns making dangerous runs into the opponent’s penalty area.

Piszczek’s best moment came in the 31st minute when he played a quick 1-2 with Kuba that saw our right back get behind the defense. Lukasz played an excellent cutback ball for Ajax’s Arkadiusz Milik who wastefully fired over the target from 6 yards out.

9 minutes later, Kuba whipped in a cross that went all the way across the face of the Northern Irish goal. Remarkably, no one was able to get a foot to the ball.

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Błaszczykowski got his assist though early in the second half. He made an intelligent run from the right wing before crossing to Milik. The Ajax man finally finished a chance to put the Poles up for good.

Kuba went for seconds in the assist department in the 75th minute but Wisla Krakow’s Maczynski just missed the top right corner with a curling effort.

All in all, Dortmund’s Polish right side played with great mutual understanding for 80 minutes until Kuba was subbed off to fittingly conclude his 80th international cap. Piszczek finished off the game as the Northern Irish chased a result with sound defending and some "professional" fouls. One thing to keep an eye on will be a possible injury to Piszczek who needed medical attention after colliding with Szczesny.

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Here’s to hoping Kuba and Piszczek find similar form in front of the yellow wall this year.

Heja BVB!