Legia Warsaw – Lech Poznań 1:2

October has been an extremely busy month for Lech. Since returning from the international break, the Poznań side have already played four matches, with three more still to come before the end of the month. Following an unusually long, three-week international break, Frederiksen and his men returned to league action with a convincing 4:1 victory over Śląsk Wrocław. They then hosted Bayer Leverkusen in their first European night at Bułgarska Street this season, but unfortunately suffered a 4:0 defeat. They followed that with a dominant 6:1 home win against Korona Kielce. On Thursday, ahead of their meeting with Legia, Lech picked up their first point in this season’s league phase of the Europa League, drawing with Sunderland.

The action at Łazienkowska Street only really heated up after the opening 15 minutes, when Leo Bengtsson stepped up to take a free-kick. The 28-year-old winger struck the ball powerfully toward goal, but it hit the post. A few moments later, Legia visited Lech’s penalty area thrice, but the defenders and goalkeeper from Poznań dealt with each threat effectively. Lech’s offence also looked for an opportunity to break the deadlock. Pablo Rodríguez and Patrik Wålemark both threatened the hosts’ goal in the first half, but when the referee announced halftime, the scoreboard was still displaying a goalless draw.

The opening goal did not arrive until the 56th minute. Patrik Wålemark won possession in his own half and embarked on a superb run, carrying the ball towards the edge of the penalty area, where he spotted Bengtsson. The latter played the ball straight into the path of Yannick Agnero, and the Ivorian striker made no mistake, firing it into the net to score in another consecutive Ekstraklasa game.

Legia responded soon afterwards with two dangerous chances. First, from a set piece, Piątkowski sent a header towards goal, but the ball hit the post. Augustyniak then tried his luck from outside the penalty area, but Mateusz Lis made a confident save. Nevertheless, the hosts found an equaliser. In the 73rd minute, a Legia player delivered a cross into the penalty area. After two successive headers from the home side, Viunnyk got the final touch and put the ball in the net.

Both teams continued to push for a winner as the match neared its end. Legia threatened first, but Mateusz Lis successfully stopped Szczepaniak’s effort. Then, in the 87th minute, Lech broke into the hosts’ penalty area. Daniel Håkans sent the ball towards goal, and Luis Palma got a touch to turn it into the net. Once again, a late goal proved decisive for Lech, sealing a 2:1 victory. Szymański had one more attempt in added time, but the 29-year-old Lech goalkeeper produced another assured save.

Lech's October fixture marathon is not over yet. Before the upcoming international break, Niels Frederiksen’s men still have two matches to play: a Polish Cup tie against Siarka Tarnobrzeg in the round of 32, followed by a league fixture against Wisła Cracow.