Johannsson’s dream debut

The 30-year-old American with an Icelandic passport signed a one-year contract with Lech Poznań on February 12^th. However, since he couldn’t make his debut in the clash with Wisła Płock that took place two days after, he had to wait until the following match, that is Lech’s league clash with Śląsk Wrocław. Not only did the forward debut in that particular game, but he was also a part of the starting line-up.

Since the opening minutes, Johannsson was very active on the pitch and looked eagerly for passes but the ball was rarely at his feet. “It’s because even though we played a good first half, whenever we came close to Śląsk’s penalty area, we lacked precision,” explained the American forward. One of the passes directed at Johannsson – a well-timed cross from Alan Czerwiński – did reach the striker, however, his shot was off target.

Johannsson didn’t give up after his unsuccessful attempts and was equally active and motivated in the second half. In the 57^th minute, his determination brought fruit as he converted a perfect cross from Jan Sýkora into a header that left Matus Putnocky helpless.

“I talked to Sýkora at halftime and asked him that whenever he leaves the flank and runs towards the middle of the pitch, he should try and cross the ball into the box where I am will be waiting. He sent me a perfect pass and since I have plenty of experience, I knew where the ball would fall and I positioned myself exactly where I needed to be, which gave the desired result,” highlighted Johannsson.

The American forward spent 75 minutes on the pitch and was then replaced by Filip Szymczak. However, before the substitution was made, Johannsson had two more goal-scoring opportunities. First, his attempt flew just a few centimetres next to the post, and his what looked like to be an accidental header was also off target. “I was a bit unlucky in that situation because the ball bounced off the goalkeeper's hands and flew just above my head but since it all happened so fast, I didn’t have enough time to react and redirect the ball where I wanted it to go,” said the American striker.