Wisła Cracow - Lech Poznań 1:3

Coach Bjelica decided to pick an unusual formation for the clash with Wisla Cracow – a change forced by a number of injuries in the squad. Five first-choice players were unavailable for the Monday match. Therefore, the coach decided to play with three defenders only and give a chance to a couple of youngsters – Klups and Tomasik.

The latter built a good scoring chance for his more experienced teammate Gytkjaer in the 11th minute when he sent the Dane a well-timed pass behind the defenders’ backs, but before the striker could fire a shot, he was blocked by Arsenic. Wisla responded a couple of minutes later with a counterattack led by Imaz, but the player’s attempt was successfully blocked by Lech’s defensive line.

Half an hour into the game, Wisla took the lead. The hosts were awarded a free kick which Carlitos converted into a beautiful goal. However, it didn’t take long for Lech to respond with an equalizer. In the 43^rd minute, the referee gave Lech a penalty kick following Velez’s handball which blocked Tomasik’s cross into the box. Gytkjaer placed the ball in the back of the net without hesitation.

Lech indisputably dominated the second half of the match and within 6 minutes they managed to put the ball in the goal once more. Jevtic spotted Gytkjaer who was running into the box and the Dane placed the ball in the back of the net with a shot between the goalkeeper’s legs. The goal motivated Wisla to attack and with the help of Carlitos, the hosts caused problems to Lech’s defensive line. However, the team from Poznan successfully stopped their opponent’s offensive actions.

Bjelica’s players were satisfied with the score and determined not to lose the advantage, especially considering that they haven’t won an away game since August. Therefore, Lech moved deeper into the defense and waited patiently for counterattacks where Jevtic played the key role. Gytkjaer’s occasional attempts were either off target or blocked. In the 73^rd minute, the Dane should have scored his third goal that night after he received a great pass from Vujadinovic, but he waited too long before shooting. Shortly afterward, Majewski came close to scoring, but his attempt was off target.

In the 83rd minute, Lech managed to change the score once more. Klups initiated the offensive action which was then led by Majewski. The midfielder spotted Gytkjaer and the Dane converted the pass into his third goal. The two-goal advantage gave the players from Poznan peace of mind and, as a result, the match slowed down. Lech defended relentlessly until the final whistle and since the score didn’t change, the team from Poznan collected 3 points.

WISŁA CRACOW - LECH POZNAŃ 1:3 (1:1)

Goals: Carlitos (30) - Gytkjaer (43 k), Gytkjaer (52), Gytkjaer (83)

Yellow cards: Mitrović, Sadlok, Arsenić - Vujadinović, Trałka, Jevtić

Wisła: Julian Cuesta - Matej Palcic (77. Rafał Boguski), Fran Velez, Zoran Arsenić, Maciej Sadlok - Pol Llonch (77. Petar Brlek), Tomasz Cywka, Nikola Mitrović - Carlitos, Jesus Imaz, Tibor Halilović (68. Zdenek Ondrasek)

Lech: Matus Putnocky - Emir Dilaver, Rafał Janicki, Nikola Vujadinović - Łukasz Trałka, Maciej Gajos - Tymoteusz Klupś (90. Kamil Jóźwiak), Darko Jevtić (90. Jakub Moder), Radosław Majewski, Piotr Tomasik - Christian Gytkjaer (87. Oleksiy Khoblenko)

Attendance: 20 053