Switzerland have been locked out of their own party, but their co-hosts dance on. Not that Austria possess much rhythm or co-ordination, but their timing is certainly eye-catching.

A late penalty awarded by Howard Webb, the English referee, earned a point that preserves Austria’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages, though they must beat Germany on group B’s final day to progress. Croatia have won the group and Germany need a draw on Monday to join them in the last eight, while Poland must defeat Slaven Bilic’s side. The mediocrity of both teams in Vienna last night would have been the perfect morale-booster for Joachim Löw’s team after their earlier defeat.

This was Leo Beenhakker’s ninth match in charge of a team at a World Cup or European Championship finals and he is yet to win one. Not surprisingly, the Poland coach was aghast at the penalty award. “It is impossible to accept, but I’m working on it,” he said.

Webb pointed to the spot in injury time when Mariusz Lewandowski tugged Sebastian Prödl’s shirt. Ivica Vastic, the 38-year-old substitute, lashed in the penalty to become the oldest goalscorer in tournament history by more than four years. He showed a conviction absent in his team-mates — a brewery has offered a lifetime’s supply of beer to anyone who scores for Austria at Euro 2008 and, Vastic apart, their forwards played as if they had drunk the prize.

While Austria’s shooting was poor, Artur Boruc’s goalkeeping was excellent. It needed to be, since Poland’s defence was as compliant as it had been against Germany on Sunday. Boruc denied his opponents three times in the space of five first-half minutes, saving twice from Martin Harnik and then from Christoph Leitgeb.

Austria were duly mugged after half an hour by Roger Guerreiro, a forward who began the year as a Brazilian. Born in São Paulo, Guerreiro became a Polish citizen only in April after the President fast-tracked his application. Tracking is not something the Austria defence does well, though Guerreiro appeared to be offside when he tapped in after a shot by Marek Saganowski had been deflected into his path.

Austria were short on quality, composure and belief in the second half, but, luckily for them, Webb had the confidence to make a decisive impact.

Teams
Austria (4-4-2): J Macho - G Garics, S Prödl, M Stranzl, E Pogatetz - C Leitgeb, R Aufhauser (sub: J Säumel, 74min), A Ivanschitz (sub: I Vastic, 64), U Korkmaz - M Harnik, R Linz (sub: R Kienast, 64). Substitutes not used: A Manninger, R Özcan, J Standfest, C Fuchs, R Gercaliu, M Katzer, J Patocka, M Hiden, E Hoffer. Booked: Korkmaz, Prödl.

Poland (4-3-1-2): A Boruc - M Wasilewski, M Jop (sub: P Golanski, 46), J Bak, M Zewlakow - D Dudka, M Lewandowski, J Krzynowek - M Saganowski (sub: W Lobodzinski, 83) - R Guerreiro (sub: R Murawski, 85), E Smolarek. Substitutes not used: L Fabianski, W Kowalewski, J Wawrzyniak, L Gargula, M Pazdan,T Zahorski, AKokoszka. Booked: Wasilewski, Krzynowek, Bak.

Referee: H Webb (England).