FK Pelister - Lech Poznań 0:3

The Polish club was a definitive favorite and they were the first ones to attack. Situm fired a shot from outside the box, but his attempt was slightly off target. After that, the hosts started dominating the play. Following a set piece awarded to Lech, Pelister raced down their rival’s half of the pitch and Iliojski crossed the ball into Lech’s box, but Petrov failed to reach the pass. The Macedonians overshadowed the team from Poland and as a result they were awarded a number of set pieces in the opening minutes.

Pelister had a good scoring chance following Buric’s error. Illiojski attempted to lob the goalkeeper, and although Buric saved the shot, he failed to catch the ball. The forward recovered the ball, but the referee whistled a foul and gave the Macedonian player a yellow card. Nicki Bille had an opportunity to score following a good pass from Barkroth, but he lost the ball before he could fire a shot.

Afterward Lech started to dominate the match. In the 16th minute Gajos was left unmarked in front of Pelister’s box. He received a pass from Situm, dribbled past one of the defenders and fired a shot that flew a couple of centimeters above the crossbar. On the other end of the pitch Illiojski could have scored for Pelister, but he didn’t reach the ball sent by Silva. Before the referee whistled halftime, Lech changed the score. Majewski crossed the ball into the box and Tralka redirected it into the goal with a header.

Undoubtedly, the weather conditions had a big impact on the match. The thermometers showed 33 degrees in the shade, but the heat was even less bearable in the sun. Both teams struggled which resulted in the lack of accuracy and fluency. Following periods of fast play, the players slowed down in order to rest. The endurance of both sides was tested that afternoon. The club from Poznan had to work hard to win against lower-ranked Pelister.

The hosts remained in possession of the ball for the majority of the time but in order to advance to the II round of Europa League, they needed to score 6 goals. Meanwhile, it was Lech that scoring chances in the second half. Jevtic came on the pitch to help his teammates score another goal and secure a win. In the 68^th minute the Swiss player sent a pass to Makuszewski who raced into the box and sent a return pass to Jevtic while the latter finished off the action with a precise shot into the corner of the goal. Makuszewski could have scored a goal of his own a couple of minutes later, but the goalkeeper intervened successfully.

The team from Poznan was better prepared for the match and they intensified their pressing in the last minutes of the match. The guests were awarded 7 corner kick within 4 minutes. However, the Polish side couldn’t find a way to score the third goal, but only until the 77^th minute when Jozwiak beat Pelister’s goalkeeper with a precise flat shot.

Lech was determined to keep on scoring. Makuszewski was the most active player on the pitch and in the closing minutes of the match he was positioned up on the front. The midfielder had a good chance to score when he dribbled past the defending players and fired a shot, but once again his attempt was stopped by the keeper. Gajos tried adding another goal to Lech’s account too, but his shot stopped on the post. Despite the indispiutable domination of the Polish team, the score didn’t change in the last couple of minutes and with an aggregate score 7:0, Lech was the team that advanced to the II round of Europa League.

FK PELISTER - LECH POZNAŃ 0:3 (0:1)

Goals: Trałka (39), Jevtić (68), Jóźwiak (77)

Yellow cards: Markoski - Burić

FK Pelister: Marko Jovanovski - Kristijan Tosevski, Goce Todorovski (46. Lucas), Martin Kowaczew, Blagojce Ljamcevski - Dimitar Iliev, Riste Markoski (62. Matej Cvetanoski) - Fernando Silva, Oliver Peev, Filip Petrov (76. Ivo Trifunovski) - Baze Iliojski

Lech: Jasmin Burić - Robert Gumny, Łukasz Trałka, Lasse Nielsen, Volodymyr Kostevych - Maciej Gajos, Abdul Aziz Tetteh, Radosław Majewski (66. Darko Jevtić) - Nicklas Barkroth, Nicki Bille (70. Kamil Jóźwiak), Mario Situm (46. Maciej Makuszewski).