A contentious injury-time penalty goal from veteran Ivica Vastic secured Austria an unlikely 1-1 draw against Poland in Vienna.Austria had time, space and chances galore for the most of the first 30 minutes - four one-on-ones in the space of ten thrilling minutes.
The first fell to Martin Harnik, who found himself behind the defence and through on Artur Boruc, but the big Celtic keeper got a hand to his low shot and brilliantly tipped the ball round the post.
Boruc saved again from point-blank range after a goalmouth scramble three minutes later, before in the 16th minute Christoph Leitgeb was sent through in the same fashion as Harnik, but the end result was, sadly for the hosts, almost identical.
Their pressure looked to have finally paid off in the 22nd minute when Gyuri Garics cut in well from the right side, running unchallenged into the Polish penalty area, but before he had time to pick his spot Boruc had rushed out and smothered the danger.
As much as Poland were indebted to Boruc's brilliance, they had created the problems for themselves. Mariusz Jop and captain Jacek Bak were absent in the centre of defence, while right-back Marcin Wasilewski was repeatedly beaten by Umit Korkmaz.
It was a solvable problem though and one that was helped when they had a lead to defend, albeit one that was completely undeserved.
A deep cross to Marek Saganowski had taken the defenders and goalkeeper out of the way, leaving Roger Guerreiro free to tap in from close range - despite receiving a pass from the Southampton striker in an offside position.
Nevertheless they were free to shut up shop and play for a 1-0 win - a tactic that looked sound until the last-minute drama.
Boruc hadn't been tested in the whole of the second half, while his opposite number Jurgen Macho faced a number of efforts that he repelled without ever looking entirely convincing.
So by the time English referee Howard Webb awarded a penalty to Austria for a tug on Sebastian Prodl by Mariusz Lewandowski, the co-hosts had looked dead and buried.
Nevertheless, substitute Vastic had no hesitation in striking a fierce drive down the middle of Boruc's goal to become, at 38, the oldest ever scorer in a European Championship finals.
The equaliser opens Group B up, with all four teams now still in contention in the last round of matches to be played on Monday.
Main Highlights
or 1st Half Highlights
2nd Half Highlights
Austria 1 - 1 Poland
30′ [0 - 1] R. Guerreiro
90′ I. Vastic (penalty kick) [1 - 1]
Match Statistics
shots on target : 5 - 8
shots off target : 5 - 5
possession (%) : 53 - 47
corner kicks : 8 - 8
offsides : 1 - 2
fouls : 13 - 25
yellow cards : 2 - 3
red cards : 0 - 0
Austria: Macho, Garics, Prodl, Stranzl, Pogatetz, Leitgeb, Aufhauser (Saumel 74), Ivanschitz (Vastic 64), Korkmaz, Harnik, Linz (Kienast 64).
Subs Not Used: Manninger, Ozcan, Standfest, Fuchs, Gercaliu, Katzer, Patocka, Hiden, Hoffer.
Booked: Korkmaz, Prodl.
Poland: Boruc, Wasilewski, Jop (Golanski 46), Bak, Zewlakow, Dudka, Lewandowski, Krzynowek, Roger (Murawski 85), Saganowski (Lobodzinski 83), Smolarek.
Subs Not Used: Kowalewski, Fabianski, Wawrzyniak, Gargula, Pazdan, Zahorski, Kokoszka.
Booked: Wasilewski, Krzynowek, Bak.
Att: 51,428.
Ref: Howard Webb (England).
