Lech Poznań - Gandzasar Kapan 2:0

The match against the Armenian team was a debut for Lech’s new coach. The first leg was crucial in the context of qualifying to the next round of Europa League qualifiers. The temperatures in Armenia, where the second leg will be played, will have an undoubtful influence on the team’s performance, therefore, Lech’s goal was to win the first match and make a big step towards qualifying to the next phase.

The players from Poznan did exactly that in the opening quarter. First, in the 10^th minute, Gajos dribbled past a couple of defenders, spotted Makuszewski who was left unmarked, and the latter sent a precise cross to Gytkjaer who beat the Armenian keeper with an impressive shot. Shortly afterward, Makuszewski and Gytkjaer played a key role in another offensive action, but this time the Dane was fouled in the box and Lech was given a penalty kick which the player himself converted into a second goal.

The two-goal lead slowed down the tempo of the match. Lech remained in control of the match and the players from Poznan had a number of scoring chances, but none successfully converted into a goal. For instance, Gajos’s attempt from outside the box was easily stopped by the keeper. In the 37^th minute, Gandzasar had an opportunity to score when they were given a free kick. Harutyunyan finished off the action with a shot which was stopped by Buric. Shortly afterward, the same player beat Rogne in a direct clash and fired a shot from an acute angle but his attempt was blocked by Janicki.

After halftime, Gandzasar attacked again. Tomic attempted to surprise Buric with a header, but the goalkeeper intervened perfectly again. 5 minutes later, the hosts had a decent scoring chance when Gajos spotted Gytkjaer who was left unmarked but the Dane failed to beat the Armenian keeper.

The team from Poznan had a favorable result which they wanted to defend by remaining in control of the match. However, Gandzasar attacked dangerously every once in a while. In order to avoid conceding a goal, Djurdjevic sent in Tiba who was initially positioned in the offensive but later moved deeper into midfield and played alongside Cywka whilst looking for free space to attack.

In the 78^th minute, Gajos came close to scoring after he received a precise pass from Makuszewski, however, his shot flew above the crossbar. 5 minutes later, Gandzasar had an opportunity to change the score, however, Harutyunyan’s header was once more successfully stopped by Buric. 3 minutes before the final whistle, Tomczyk should have scored the third goal that evening when he had an open net, but instead of shooting immediately, he waited and his attempt was far off target.

LECH POZNAŃ - GANDZASAR KAPAN 2:0 (2:0)

Goals: Gytkjaer (10), (15k)

Yellow cards: De Marco, Tiba - Sverchinski

Lech: Jasmin Burić - Rafał Janicki, Thomas Rogne, Vernon De Marco - Maciej Makuszewski, Tomasz Cywka, Maciej Gajos, Volodymyr Kostevych - Darko Jevtić (69. Nicklas Barkroth), Mihai Radut (58. Pedro Tiba) - Christian Gytkjaer (86. Paweł Tomczyk)

Gandzasar: Gevorg Kasparov - Aleksandr Sverchinski, Vukasin Tomić, Hayk Ishkhanyan, Ara Khachatryan (82. Vardan Pogosyan) - Lubambo Musonda, Wbeymar, Artur Yusbashyan (59. Gevorg Ohanyan), Alex Junior - Gegham Harutyunyan, Gevorg Nranyan (90. Davit Minasyan)