Great potential

Three of the eight goals scored by Lech Poznan against Elana Torun came from set pieces. Kownacki’s goal followed a corner kick executed by Jevtic, which caused a lot of chaos in Elana’s box. Meanwhile, the Swiss footballer sent another good cross into the penalty area not long after, but this time it was Nielsen that redirected the ball into the net. Jevtic added a goal of his own as well converting a free kick into a beautiful, precise shot.

“We train set pieces frequently. The coach believes that we should pay great attention to this part of the game. The players in the box needed to approach the ball confidently. The results of the hard work were visible in the last friendly game,” explained Darko Jevtic. “Set pieces are an immensely important element of the play. A good corner kick or free kick often results in a goal. However, it’s important that we play the set pieces well in the league matches,” added the midfielder.

During the autumn league round, Lech’s squad scored 11 goals from set pieces, 5 of them from a penalty kick. Only 4 goals followed a corner kick and 3 a free kick. Only 4 teams in the Polish league have better set pieces statistics than Lech. However, the training staff believes that Lech’s full potential is yet to be exploited.

“We ought to have played the set pieces better in the first phase of the season. I believe that my team has got great potential which hasn’t yet been fully exploited. We scored 3 goals from set pieces in the last match and that makes us happy. Now it’s time to put that in practice during the league clashes,” said Nenad Bjelica, Lech’s coach.