Lech loses to Shakhtar in the last friendly

The clash with Shakhtar was the second friendly game that Lech played on Thursday. At midday, Mariusz Rumak’s squad faced NK Maribor and won 3:0 thanks to a brace from Filip Szymczak and a header from Antonio Milić. A completely different starting line-up appeared on the pitch to face Shakhtar Donetsk.

The beginning of the match went according to plan for the Polish side – they dealt well with Shakhtar’s pressing and Kristoffer Velde even came close to scoring from an acute angle, but the Ukrainian keeper stopped the shot. However, gradually it was the side from Donetsk that began dominating in the match and it didn’t take them long to change the score. Pedrinho sent a great pass to Oleksandr Zubkov, who was left unmarked in the box, and the winger effortlessly converted the attempt to the first goal. Shortly before halftime, Shakhtar scored again, this time as a result of Lech’s mistake – Bartosz Mrozek’s pass to Afonso Sousa was too light and Artem Bondarance took advantage of it, intercepted the pass, and placed the ball in the net. The Ukrainian side came close to setting a three-goal advantage before the break, however, Eguinaldo failed to beat Mrozek in a one-on-one situation.

In the second half of the match, the Orange-and-Black squad managed to score once again. Viktor Tsukanov was fouled by Jesper Karlstrom inside the box and the referee awarded Shakhtar a penalty kick. It was Tsukanov himself who converted the set piece into a goal. Lech was determined to find the back of the net as well. Michał Gurgul was active on the left flank but his cross to Dino Hotic was blocked before it reached the recipient. Less than a minute later, Mariusz Rumak’s squad attacked once more. Velde rushed into the box, dribbled past a few defensive players, and ended up being fouled. This time the referee awarded the Polish side a penalty kick. Hotić’s shot bounced off the post, but Gurgul was in the right place at the right time and his follow-up shot ended up in the net. The individual attempt that resulted in a penalty kick seemed to have motivated Velde and the Norwegian started causing more problems to Shakhtar’s defensive line. He even fired a shot on target, but Artur Rudko intervened successfully. In the last phase of the game, Lech seemed to dominate on the pitch however, that did not impact the score, hence it was Shakhtar who triumphed 3:1 in the friendly game.

Lech Poznań - Shakhtar Donetsk 1:3 (0:2)

Goals: Gurgul (66.) - Zubkov (21.), Bondarenko (42.), Tsukanov (55.)
Lech Poznań line-up: Bartosz Mrozek – Joel Pereira, Bartosz Salamon, Miha Blažič, Barry Douglas – Jesper Karlström, Radosław Murawski, Afonso Sousa – Dino Hotić, Mikael Ishak (26. Michał Gurgul), Kristoffer Velde