FC Utrecht - Lech Poznań 0:0

Lech’s determination was visible from the first whistle of the match. The team from Poznan quickly dominated and got its first scoring chances in the 5^th minute. Gajos crossed the ball to the right flank where Makuszewski was left unmarked. The latter decided for a shot, but his attempt did not surprise the goalkeeper. A couple of minutes later Gajos’s header flew above the crossbar and the keeper didn’t even have to intervene.

After a dozen or so minutes of offensive actions, Lech moved deeper into the defense. The guests allowed Utrecht to regain control over the match. Zakaria Labyad cause the most problems to Lech’s defensive line. The forward often left his position on the flank and moved towards the midfield where took over the role of a playmaker. However, that wasn’t enough to beat Lech’s defenders who performed well that night.

Lech struggled to create scoring chances too. Bjelica’s players couldn’t find enough space to shoot, therefore their only hope were the set pieces. The guests were awarded only a couple of set pieces in the first half. However, most of Majewski’s crosses into the box were easily stopped by Utrecht’s defenders. Shortly before halftime Utrecht had a good opportunity to score, but Labyad’s shot from a free kick was saved by Putnocky.

Lech began the second half better than the hosts. Similarly to the opening minutes of the match, Lech remained in possession of the ball for the majority of the time and tried to dominate the match. However, in the 51^st the Dutch had a great chance to score. Kerk’s individual run could have ended perfectly for the Dutchmen, but his shot was blocked at the last moment. Lech was determined to score too, but the lack of accuracy made the task very difficult.

The longer the scoreboard showed a goalless draw, the more physical the match was. Both sides weren’t willing to give up and fought to dominate the midfield. In the 68^th minute Lech got a good scoring chance. Majewski crossed the ball into the box where Vujadinovic was waiting, but his header was stopped by the keeper. 7 minutes later the Dutchmen responded with a long ball from Kerk, but Putnocky recovered it in time.

In the 77th minute Lech could have broken the deadlock. Dilaver sent a well-timed pass to Bille who was left unmarked in the box, but his shot from a close distance was saved by the keeper. 2 minutes later the Dane passed the ball to Gajos and the latter’s attempt turned out to be problematic for the goalkeeper, but luckily for Utrecht, the ball didn’t fall into the back of the net. Despite the clear domination in the closing minutes of the match, Lech didn’t find a way to beat Utrecht’s defense line and the game ended with a goalless draw.

FC UTRECHT - LECH POZNAŃ 0:0

Yellow cards: Janssen. Labyad, Emanuelson - Kostevych, Trałka

FC Utrecht: David Jensen - Sean Klaiber, Marc van de Maarel (84. Robin van der Meer), Willem Janssen, Edson Braafheid - Sander van de Streek (75. Giovanni Troupee), Wout Brama, Urby Emanuelson - Gyrano Kerk, Cyriel Dessers (75. Ramon Leeuwin), Zakaria Labyad

Lech Poznań: Matus Putnocky - Emir Dilaver, Nikola Vujadinović, Rafał Janicki, Volodymyr Kostevych - Maciej Gajos, Łukasz Trałka, Radosław Majewski (85. Mihai Radut) - Maciej Makuszewski (77. Robert Gumny), Christian Gytkjaer (69. Nicki Bille), Mario Situm