Lech loses in the Polish Cup final

Despite Lech’s efforts to dominate the game and remain in possession of the ball for as long as possible, they match didn’t go as planned for the team from Poznan. Their offensive actions were predictable and easy to stop for Arka. In addition, the team from the seaside not only defended their goal successfully, but also managed to cause problems to Lech’s defensive line once in a while. They were the first ones to build a good scoring chance. Socha’s cross from the flank reached Trytko, but his attempt flew above the crossbar. On the other end of the pitch Majewski converted a corner kick into a good pass, but Bednarek’s header hit the woodwork.

In the 23rd minute Lech invaded Arka’s penalty box and occupied it for a couple of long minutes. During one of the offensive actions Kownacki spotted Jevtic who was left unmarked and passed to his Swiss teammate, but his shot was blocked by the keeper. A minute later Majewski was the one to cross the ball into the box and Kedziora shot was redirected by the goalkeeper above the crossbar at the last moment. Lech’s defender played a key role in the next offensive action as well and once again Steinbors managed to stop the ball from falling into the back of the net.

Since that moment on Lech played more bravely and rapidly. However, that did not help them score a goal. A lot of inaccuracies were the biggest problems for the team from Poznan. Robak had one of the best scoring chances before halftime. In the 37^th minute Majewski led one of Lech’s few counterattacks and spotted Robak who was racing into the box, however, the forward was blocked before he could fire a shot. A couple of minutes later Trytko tried surprising Buric with a shot that turned out to be too weak to cause the keeper any problems.

Not much changed after halftime. Lech remained in possession of the ball for the majority of the time. 8 minutes into the second half the team from Poznan got another goal scoring opportunity. Kostevych raced down the left flank and crossed the ball into the box where Robak was waiting. However, the forwards shot stopped on the post. The same player added another shot to the statistics a few minutes later, but this time the ball was stopped by the keeper.

Lech was in control of the ball for long periods of time, but often the defenders had the ball by their feet. Twice when Nielsen was in possession of the ball, his pass to another teammate was blocked by the rival. In the second case that could have ended badly for Lech, but luckily for the team from Poznan Buric stopped Warcholak’s shot. Lech responded with Kownacki’s slightly imprecise shot.

Lech struggled to come close to Arka’s goal no matter what way they tried. Kedziora and Kostevych were active on the flanks, but they had to watch out for the rival’s counterattacks because Arka was well-aware of Lech’s weak spot whenever the two defenders were involved in an offensive action. In the 90^th minute Lech came very close to scoring. Makuszewski played a key role in a counterattack that was finished off by Majewski. The midfielder despite being unmarked, sent the ball off target.

Since the score was still undecided after 90 minutes, the match extended to the extra time necessary to reveal the winner of the Polish Cup. Pawlowski brought a lot of energy to the team and a couple of his offensive runs caused problems to Arka’s defensive line. Lech also searched for set pieces, but this element of the game did not bring the desirable results either. Neither of the teams managed to score in the first 15 minutes.

However, the second half of extra time was decisive. Arka found a way to beat Lech’s defensive line in the 107th minute when Siemaszko beat Buric with a header. Lech was determined to equalize, but instead of doing so, they conceded another goal. Zarandia was the one to finish off Arka’s counterattack with a flat shot that left Buric helpless. Shortly before the final time Lech Tralka’s header got the team from Poznan a goal that although brought hope, it didn’t help Lech win the Polish Cup trophy.

LECH POZNAŃ - ARKA GDYNIA 1:2 (0:0)

Goals: Trałka (119) - Siemaszko (107), Zarandia (111)

Yellow cards: Robak - Szwoch, da Silva, Łukasiewicz, Zarandia

Lech: Jasmin Burić - Tomasz Kędziora, Lasse Nielsen (109. Mihai Radut), Jan Bednarek, Maciej Wilusz - Łukasz Trałka, Maciej Gajos, Radosław Majewski - Darko Jevtić (85. Szymon Pawłowski), Marcin Robak, Dawid Kownacki (73. Maciej Makuszewski)

Arka: Pavels Steinbors - Tadeusz Socha, Krzysztof Sobieraj, Michał Marcjanik, Marcin Warcholak - Antoni Łukaszewicz, Adam Marciniak - Marcus da Silva (55. Rafał Siemaszko), Mateusz Szwoch, Miroslav Bożok (82. Dominik Hofbauer) - Przemysła Trytko (71. Luka Zarandia)

Attendance: 43 760