Lewandowski hits four as Poland punish Gibraltar

• Poland score six goals after half-time to make a prolific start in Group D
• Gibraltar suffer their heaviest defeat since becoming UEFA members
• Robert Lewandowski posts his first ever four-goal haul for Poland
• Kamil Grosicki also helps himself to a double
• Next games: Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar, Poland v Germany (11 October)

Robert Lewandowski was the star of the show thanks to a four-goal salvo as Poland recorded a 7-0 win against UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group D rivals Gibraltar.

Gibraltar were making their competitive debut after earning full UEFA membership last year, and they fell behind on 11 minutes when Kamil Grosicki began the damage. Poland were unable to add another before the interval, yet they made up for that in a second-half blitz, with Lewandowski scoring four goals in an international for the first time along with efforts from Grosicki and Łukasz Szukała.

Adam Nawałka's charges made a bright start to the game and first tested goalkeeper Jordan Perez via a Kamil Glik header. That attempt was saved, but a minute later Lewandowski laid the ball off to Grosicki, whose low shot from outside the box found its way into the net via a deflection.

Gibraltar did well to keep the scoreline down until the break, yet the floodgates opened in the second period, with Poland conjuring four goals in the space of ten minutes shortly after the restart – Grosicki grabbing his second, followed by a Lewandowski brace and a Szukala strike.

The physical challenge was taking its toll on Gibraltar's players in Faro-Loule and Lewandowski was able to add two more efforts to his tally, firstly racing clear onto a through ball from Maciej Rybus and then beating two defenders before firing past Perez in added time.