Lech Poznań – Qarabağ FK 1:0

The first match of the season was a demanding one for Lech. The Polish Champions welcomed Qarabağ FK – their opponent in the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Qurban Qurbanov’s squad has successfully qualified to the group stage of European competition for the past 8 years, which only highlights what kind of challenge awaited Lech at the start of their path to the Champions League.

The opening minutes of the match only confirmed that that was the case – Qarabağ dominated on the pitch and spent a majority of the time on Lech’s half of the pitch. However, the hosts defended wisely and stopped their rival from taking advantage of the possession of the ball.

Qarabağ put intense pressure on Lech’s defensive line and just when it seemed that a goal would be just a matter of time, it was the hosts that scored. In the 41^st minute, Joao Amaral raced down the right flank and found his Portuguese colleague, Joel Pereira who sent a perfectly timed pass along the goal, into the box. Mikael Ishak was in the right place, at the right time and he tapped the ball into the back of the net.

It was clear that Qarabağ would have to intensify their offensive attempts in the second half in order to turn the tables. Meanwhile, Lech continued defending smartly whilst waiting for opportunities to counterattack. One of their attempts nearly ended in a second goal but Filip Szymczak’s shot was stopped by Qarabağ’s keeper.

The Azerbaijan team regularly invaded Lech’s penalty area but didn’t seem to have an idea how to put the ball in the back of the net and, in the end, failed to beat Rudko for the whole 90 minutes.

Lech celebrated the modest win, but they still have a difficult second leg to play. In a week’s time, they will face Qarabağ in Baku.

Lech Poznań – Qarabağ FK 1:0 (1:0)

Goals: Mikael Ishak (41.)

Lech Poznań: Artur Rudko – Joel Pereira, Lubomir Satka, Antonio Milic, Pedro Rebocho – Kristoffer Velde (62. Adriel Ba Loua), Radosław Murawski (83. Alan Czerwiński), Joao Amaral (62. Filip Szymczak), Jesper Karlstrom, Michał Skóraś – Mikael Ishak (80. Nika Kvekveskiri).

Qarabağ FK: Szachrudin Mahammadalijew – Marko Vesovic, Maksim Medwiediew, Kevin Medina, Elwin Cafargulijew (82. Tural Bajramow) – Gara Garajew, Leandro Andrade (62. Filip Ozobic), Richard Almeida (62. Marko Jankovic) – Kady (82. Kwabwena Owusu), Ibrahima Wadji (62. Ramil Szejadajew), Abdellah Zoubir.