Jagiellonia Białystok - Lech Poznań 2:1

With harsh winter weather conditions, both sides had a difficult mission in the Sunday evening. The team from Poznan dominated in the opening minutes and they soon started building good scoring chances. In the 5th minute Makuszewski sent the ball to the far post and since no one intercepted the pass, the ball reached Jevtic and the latter fired a shot from a sharp angle. However, the shot wasn’t on target and the ball hit the side net.

The hosts turned out to be more effective and their first good scoring chance ended with a goal. Cernych sent a long ball to Swiderski, Putnocky left the goal in order to intercept the pass, but Jagiellonia’s youngster was quicker and he redirected the ball into the net. Meanwhile, on the other half of the pitch Makuszewski’s cross put Majewski in a perfect scoring situation, but the latter’s header was too strong it flew above the crossbar.

The last 15 minutes of the first half were the most exhilarating. First Putnocky was forced to intervene when Guti sent a cross into the box and the goalkeeper’s last-minute save redirected the ball onto the crossbar. Later, in the 40th minute, Jevtic got to convert a free kick into a good pass into the box and Kelemen stopped the ball just in time for it not to fall into the back of the net. Both goalkeepers were kept busy with a couple of shots on target and dangerous offensive actions, however, it was Lech that finally managed to place the ball in the net. Arajuuri converted Jevtic’s cross into a header that caused the goalkeeper a lot of problems and eventually rolled across the goal line.

Lech continued its fight for three points after the break. The guests remained in possession of the ball most of the time and focused on dangerous playmaking. However, their offensive actions seemed to cause little problems to Jagiellonia’s defensive line. Anytime a player from Poznan decided to fire a shot, his attempt was usually not on target. Only crosses resulted in scoring chances.

Once again, it was Jagiellonia that was the effective one in its tries. The hosts were awarded a set piece that Romanczuk turned into a cross. Cernych received the ball and despite being marked by two defenders, he turned around and placed the ball in the net with a good shot. A couple of minutes later Lech’s young talent, Jozwiak, got a scoring chance that could have resulted in an equalizer, but he waited too long and the defenders recovered the ball from the midfielder.

Bjelica’s players were determined to win at least a point. Majewski and Robak had a couple of goal scoring opportunities, but their attempts were either not on target, or they waited too long before firing a shot and were eventually blocked. Therefore, Jagiellonia’s defensive line did not let the ball fall into their net again and when the referee announced final time, the hosts had three points added to their account.

JAGIELLONIA BIAŁYSYTOK - LECH POZNAŃ 2:1 (1:1)

Goals: Świderski (16), Cernych (63) - Arajuuri (45)

Yellow cards: Romańczuk, Świderski - Kadar, Arajuuri

Jagiellonia Białystok: Marian Kelemen - Rafał Grzyb, Ivan Rundje, Guti - Przemysław Frankowski, Dmytro Chomczenowski, Jacek Góralski, Taras Romańczuk, Piotr Tomasik - Karol Świderski (77. Patryk Klimala), Fiodor Cernych

Lech Poznań: Matus Putnocky - Tomasz Kędziora, Jan Bednarek, Paulus Arajuuri, Tamas Kadar - Łukasz Trałka, Maciej Gajos - Maciej Makuszewski (38. Kamil Jóźwiak), Radosław Majewski (80. Szymon Pawłowski), Darko Jevtić - Dawid Kownacki (69. Marcin Robak)

Attendance: 10 000