Stal Mielec – Lech Poznań 0:0

Following the intense winter preparation period and an unusually long break (2.5 months), Lech Poznań players finally got to test their form in a league match. Their first game of the spring round wasn’t going to be easy – they had to visit Stal Mielec’s home ground where they hadn’t won a single match in the last 30 years. In addition, Stal defeated Lech 2:0 at Bułgarska Street in the autumn round, hence Lech wanted to settle accounts.

The opening minutes of the Friday match weren’t good for Lech, but gradually the team from Poznań regained control of the game and created a few goal-scoring opportunities. Adriel Ba Loua came closest to scoring, but he lost a one-on-one clash with Bartosz Mrozek. John van den Brom’s squad should have been awarded two penalty kicks in the first half, but the referees led by Paweł Raczkowski thought differently. First, they failed to notice a handball in Stal’s box and then didn’t see a foul on Michał Skóraś.

In the second half, Lech didn’t have much more luck either. Mikael Ishak managed to place the ball in Stal’s net, but VAR disallowed the goal since the Swedish striker was offside. From that moment on, John van den Brom’s team seemed to have lost determination and stopped creating scoring chances. Meanwhile, the hosts came close to turning the tables and winning the game, but Jesper Karlstrom’s last-second intervention from the goal line stopped Lech from losing the match.

The team from Poznań will have an opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday – that’s when they will play the postponed match against Miedź Legnica. Lech will also face the same team at Bułgarska Street on Sunday, in another league game.