A step closer to the semifinals

Lech continues the series of matches won on the rival's home ground. This time the team from Poznan turned out to be better than Zaglebie Lubin and thanks to Arajuuris goal scored in the closing minutes, Lech is a step closer to the semifinal. The second leg is going to be played on November 19th.

Zaglebie got its first goal-scoring opportunity early, in the 9th minute, when Douglas lost the ball, giving a chance for the hosts to counterattack. Vlasko finished the offensive action with a shot that was stopped by Buric. However, the goalkeeper's intervention did not mean that the threat was gone since a few seconds later Vlasko had another opportunity to shoot which eventually stopped on the crossbar.

All Lech's player managed to do in the opening minutes of the match was to cause its own defense line problems. Multiple errors resulting in the ball being lost to the opponent gave the team from Lubin many chances to attack, but the weak or inaccurate shots weren't problematic for Buric. It took Lech 25 minutes to build the first decent offensive action when Douglas sent a good cross to Thomalla. However, the forward failed to redirect the ball towards the goal. A few minutes later Zaglebie's penalty area turned into chaos and Arajuuri got a chance to tap the ball into the net, but the attempt was a failure. Gradually the Polish Champions started dominating the match, but their efficiency was far from good. Jevtic came the closest to scoring when he did not manage to control the ball and it flew above the goal, but when the referee whistled halftime, the scoreboard was showing a blank tie.

The second part of the match began with Lech's intensified attacks. Tralka's individual run and Thomalla's shot from outside the penalty area gave hope that the second 45 minutes would be more exhilarating. However, soon the play became slow again and most of the game took place in the midfield. In the 62nd minute Jacha got the ball and even though he failed to shoot it the way he intended to, Buric did not manage to stop it either and the ball hit the post. In the next offensive actions Buric was more cautious and when Rakowski was left alone with the Bosnian keeper, he intervened successfully. Zaglebie had one more opportunity to score, but yet again the hosts failed to put the ball in the back of the net.

Neither team seemed close to scoring, but in the 81st minute Lech's players got a reason to rejoice. There was some luck needed, as well as a bit of Kaminski's calmness, Tralka's technical sophistication and Arajuuri's precise shot for Lech's offensive action to result in a goal - a goal that gives the team from Poznan an advantage ahead of the second leg.

Zaglebie had its opportunities too, but just as in Warsaw, Buric turned out to be unbeatable that night and even Wozniak's shot from about 5 meters did not pass the goalkeeper. It was the second game when Lech did not concede a single goal and the third consecutive win.

Zagłębie Lubin - Lech Poznań 0:1

Goals: Arajuuri (81')

Yellow cards: Kędziora, Trałka

Zagłębie: Martin Polacek - Dorde Cotra, Jarosław Jach, Maciej Dąbrowski - Aleksandar Todorovski - Jarosław Kubicki, Adrian Rakowski (75. Krzysztof Piątek) - Jan Vlasko, Arkadiusz Woźniak (85. Łukasz Janoszka), Krzysztof Janus (67. Jakub Tosik) - Michal Papadopulos.

Lech: Jasmin Burić - Tomasz Kędziora, Paulus Arajuuri, Marcin Kamiński, Barry Douglas - Łukasz Trałka, Dariusz Dudka (87. Kasper Hamalainen) - Dariusz Formella, Darko Jevtić (63. Szymon Pawłowski), David Holman (77. Maciej Gajos) - Denis Thomalla.