Lech Poznań – Lechia Gdańsk 3:2

Lechia Gdańsk returned to Poznań after the mid-week’s dramatic Polish Cup semifinal clash. Żuraw’s squad emphasised the eagerness to get payback for being eliminated and the opening minutes proved their determination. It didn’t take the hosts long to score – in the 5^th minute, Ramirez was fouled just outside the box and he converted the set piece into a beautiful, technical shot that left Lechia’s keeper confused and helpless.

Lech wasn’t satisfied with a single goal hence they kept on pressing. Tiba’s and Gumny’s duo performance set up Kamiński with a great opportunity to score but this time Kuciak intervened well. Shortly afterwards, to everyone’s surprise, Lechia equalised thanks to Zwoliński who tapped the ball into the net from up close. However, the replays showed that the player was offside, therefore the referee disallowed the goal. It could have been 1:1 but instead, Lech found a way to make it 2:0. Moder converted a free kick into a strong shot and since Kuciak failed to catch the ball, Gumny had the chance to tap it into the net and he didn’t waste the opportunity. It was the youngster’s second league goal in his career.

The hosts continued causing problems to Lechia’s defensive line. Moder, Ramirez, and Zhamaletdinov all tried surprising Kuciak but they failed. 5 minutes before halftime, a controversial situation took place. Lechia’s free kick attempt knocked down Moder with a shot in the face and since the referee didn’t stop the play, Haydara converted the chance into a goal which would have otherwise been disallowed due to an offside. The conceded goal visibly irritated Lech and the hosts successfully added a third goal before halftime. This time Jóźwiak beat the keeper with a strong shot by the post.

The second half didn’t start well for Lech since the hosts conceded a second goal in the 47^th minute. Kostevych lost the ball on Lech’s half of the pitch and although Mleczko managed to save Zwoliński’s shot, he didn’t catch the ball and Ze Gomes was in the right place at the right time to redirect the rebound into the net. The squad from Poznań had a perfect chance to respond with a fourth goal but Tiba, who led the counterattack, was slower than Lechia’s defenders and he lost the ball at the crucial moment. The hosts dominated the remaining bit of the match and had a few more goal-scoring opportunities, but they failed to score again; Jóźwiak came closest to getting a goal but his header flew a few centimetres above the crossbar. A couple of minutes before the final whistle, Conrado received a red card for a reckless, potentially dangerous foul. Despite playing with 10 men, Lechia didn’t let Lech score again, therefore the match ended with a 3:2 win for the hosts. The Poznań team is still fighting for second place in the league and they need only one league point to guarantee themselves a spot in Europa League qualifiers.

Lech Poznań – Lechia Gdańsk 3:2 (3:1)

Goals: Dani Ramirez (5.), Robert Gumny (22.), Kamil Jóźwiak (45.) – Omran Haydary (42.), Ze Gomes (47.)

Yellow cards: Lubomir Šatka, Miłosz Mleczko – Michał Nalepa

Red cards: Conrado (89.)

Lech Poznań: Miłosz Mleczko - Robert Gumny, Lubomir Šatka, Djordje Crnomarković, Volodymyr Kostevych - Jakub Kamiński, Pedro Tiba (90. Karlo Muhar), Jakub Moder, Dani Ramirez (78. Filip Marchwiński), Kamil Jóźwiak – Timur Zhamaletdinov (72. Christian Gytkjaer)

Lechia Gdańsk: Dušan Kuciak - Karol Fila, Michał Nalepa, Mario Maloča, Rafał Pietrzak - Omran Haydary (73. Jaroslav Mihalík), Jarosław Kubicki, Tomasz Makowski, Jakub Kałuziński (65. Maciej Gajos), Zé Gomes (70. Conrado) - Łukasz Zwoliński

Attendance: 6432