Lech Poznan - Videoton FC 3:0

In the first leg of Europa League play-offs Lech Poznan won at INEA Stadium with Videoton FC 3:0. The team from Poznan is in a good position ahead of the second leg which will decide which of the two clubs advances to the group phase.

Tonight the team from Székesfehérvár visited INEA Stadium to face Lech Poznan in Europa League play-offs. On Thursday evening Lechs squad differed from the starting XI that the fans have been seeing recently - Douglas, Hamalainen, Pawlowski and Linetty all appeared on the pitch before the match started.

Since the opening minutes Skorza's players were in control of the match. Shortly after the referee's first whistle Linetty attempted to surprise Videotons goalkeeper with a strong shot from outside the penalty area, but the ball was successfully stopped by Danilovic. However, Linetty's next shot fell into the back of the net. Douglas was the one who assisted the young midfielder with a long pass from the left flank while Linetty redirected the ball into the goal.

Lech remained dominating and calmly trying to form an action that would result in a second goal, while Videoton counterattacked. However, the guests' offensive actions were usually quickly stopped by Lech's defense. Gyurcso had a good goal-scoring opportunity when his team was awarded a free kick, but Burics, despite being jobless for a majority of the game, did not let the ball fall into the back of the net.

In the last quarter of the firts half the Hungarians focused on catching up to their rivals and they regained control over the play. Ivanovski tried shooting from outside the penalty area, while Gyurcso had another free kick. However, none of them managed to convert their chances into an actual goal.

After a short period of Videoton's domination, the hosts began attacking again. Pawlowski could have set the score to 2:0, but instead of passing to Thomalla who was in a better position, the winger decided to shoot by himself. 4 minutes before the halftime Hamalainen tried shooting too, but his shot was inaccurate, and therefore easy to save for the goalkeeper. In the result, the scoreboard at halftime showed a one-goal advantage of Lech Poznan.

The very same lineups came to play for another 45 minutes. The fans gathered at INEA Stadium waited for a few minutes before their team had another chance to score. Pawlowski managed to avoid the offside trap, however his shot turned out to be inaccurate once again.

While Lech was in possession of the ball, the goal-scoring opportunities came one by one. Lovrencsics did not use the chance he had when he found himself one-against-one with the goalkeeper after Thomalla's precise pass. Nonetheless, when the roles changed and the Hungarian midfielder was the one to pass while the German finished the action, fans at INEA Stadium rejoiced for the second time that night. Thomalla redirected the ball sent to him by Lovrencsics with a header. Although the ball hit the post, it bounced back, hit the goalkeeper and finally rolled into the net.

The supporters gathered at Bulgarska Street that Thursday night started calling for another goal and they soon got one. 10 minutes after setting the score to 2:0, Lech's players scored for the third time that night. Pawlowski was the one who sent a precise cross into the penalty area, while the captain redirected it into the net with a header.

The Hungarian started attacking more intensively after conceding the third goal and it was clear that they wanted to diminish the losses. Kovacs who appeared shortly after the kick-off of the second half had a good chance of his own when we received the ball from one of the defenders and passed Lech's defense line, but his shot wasnt on target.

The three minutes added by the referee did not affect the score, and therefore on the Thursday night it was Lech that triumphed. However, there is still the second leg to be played in Hungary on August 27th at 7 pm and that match will decided which of the two teams will compete in Europa League play-offs.

Lech Poznań - Videoton FC 3:0 (1:0)

Goals: Linetty (11.), Thomalla (57.), Trałka (68.)

Yellow cards: Linetty, Buric - Simon, Kovacs, Ivanovski

Lech: Jasmin Burić - Tomasz Kędziora, Dariusz Dudka, Marcin Kamiński, Barry Douglas - Łukasz Trałka, Karol Linetty - Gergo Lovrencsics (79. Marcin Robak - 89. David Holman), Kasper Hamalainen (83. Dariusz Formella), Szymon Pawłowski - Denis Thomalla

Videoton: Danilovic Branislav - Szolnoki Roland, Souza dos Santos Paulo Vinicius, Lang Adam, Fejes Andras - Patkai Mate (72. Dinko Trebotić), Simon Adam - Gyurcso Adam (89. Viktor Sejben), Ivanovski Mirko, Vilaca De Oliveira Filipe - Soumah Alhassane (58. Istvan Kovacs)

Spectators: 14 133