ST. PETERSBURG, June 14. /TASS/. Slovakia gained a 2:1 victory over Poland in the European Championship Group E opener in St Petersburg on Monday.

The scorers were Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (the ball bounced off the post and rebounded in from him after a shot from Robert Mak) in the 18th minute, Karol Linetty in the 46th for Poland, and Milan Skriniar in the 69th for Slovakia.

St. Petersburg’s Stadium seats 68,134, but no more than 34,067 fans are allowed to attend the matches. Originally, the Poland-Slovakia encounter was due in Dublin, but in the current epidemiological situation the city was unable to confirm it would be able to arrange for matches with fans present, so three group stage matches were moved to St. Petersburg.

Slovakia is now Group E leader with three points. Two other teams in this quartet, Spain and Sweden, are playing their first match that began at 22:00 Moscow time. In the next round Slovakia will clash with Sweden in St. Petersburg on June 18. The Poland-Spain encounter is due in Seville the next day.