The visit of a Lithuania team ranked 142nd in the world looked like an ideal opportunity for the hosts to bounce back from a sobering year in 2024, which included a group-stage exit at the Euros and relegation from League A of the UEFA Nations League.
Lewandowski had an early snapshot comfortably saved by Edvinas Gertmonas, before the Lithuania shot-stopper was called into action again to keep out Przemysław Frankowski’s close-range effort.
Unsurprisingly, Michał Probierz’s side were dominating proceedings and continued to create further openings through Jakub Piotrowski and Frankowski, but their Baltic visitors held firm.
In contrast, Łukasz Skorupski was largely a spectator standing in between the sticks for Poland, but he did make a straightforward stop to keep out a Gvidas Gineitis strike.
The theme of poor Poland finishing continued after the break, as Piotrowski took a swing at a loose ball inside the box following Sebastian Szymański’s corner and saw the ball sail harmlessly over the bar.
Frustration was growing inside the stadium, with Edgaras Jankauskas’ side working hard to preserve parity in a bid to take away a point from Warsaw. Gertmonas was having a solid game in goal for the visitors too, and did well to parry Matty Cash’s deflected effort.
Probierz looked to reshuffle his pack with the introduction of Jakub Kamiński and Krzysztof Piątek, and the latter almost made an immediate impact when his long-range strike looped just over the bar.
Lithuania were threatening a sucker punch, and Giedrius Matulevičius almost delivered it when he ghosted into the box before seeing his subsequent attempt saved by Skorupski.
However, just when Poland looked to be heading towards a drab and disappointing draw, a familiar face came to the rescue.
Record scorer Lewandowski was teed up by Kamiński and benefited from an element of fortune as his strike took a huge deflection off Artemijus Tutyškinas before flying past Gertmonas.
It was somewhat harsh on the visitors, but a goal which Probierz’s men deserved on the balance of play.
It would be enough for the Biało-Czerwoni to seal three hard-earned points, but this is not a performance which will be reflected upon fondly by the hosts.
Meanwhile, this result continues Lithuania’s dismal record in World Cup qualification, having now won only two of their last 19 qualifiers.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sebastian Szymański (Poland)