Teams from Tricity played their matches in the 29th round of Lotto Ekstraklasa this weekend. Arka Gdynia caused a great surprise winning in Gdynia with current champions – Legia Warsaw. Lechia got their 11th match without win loosing against Korona in Kielce.
Korona Kielce – Lechia Gdansk
Lechia Gdansk went to Kielce with a huge pressure on their shoulders. The team had 10 matches without a win behind them. What is more, Bruk-Bet – second to last, won their match against Cracovia jumping over Lechia moments before the match in Kielce. As a result Lechia players were entering the field being desperate to gain points.
First half
Korona Kielce dominated the match from the very beginning. Gdansk made one attempt, but it failed to find the back of the net. In the 18th minute Korona Kielce created a very good situation benefiting from poor performance of defenders. Cvijanovic received a very good pass from the side of the box and scored from a very short distance. Kuciak was helpless in this situation. From this moment Lechia had to chase the score.
Some 8 minutes later Korona had one more good situation. Zubrowski took a very good shot on goal from a free kick. Kuciak however managed to stop this one and the result remained. 30th minute of the match brought one more interesting development. After an attempt by Rymaniak Flavio Paixao blocked the ball with a hand. Referee gave hosts a penalty which Kuciak saved. Whistle stopped the joy of the goalkeeper. He got a yellow card for jumping front before saving the shot. Additionally Korona could take the penalty one more time which went far over the post.
Second half
In the second half Lechia got their first serious occasion. 10 minutes after the break the team from Gdansk got a corner. The ball went really well, close to the goal where two White&Greens were waiting to touch it. Though the distance was very short, the players didn’t manage to direct the ball into the net.
Lechia made some more efforts during the second half, but those were inaccurate. The best chance for scoring had Flavio Paixao who noticed that the goalkeeper went far from his goal. He made over 50 meter long attempt on an empty goal, but he missed. Korona could have ended the match scoring two more times, but Kuciak did a good job and saved the score. First, he deflected a very good shot by Zubrowski. Just before the final whistle he also behaved well in an one on one situation against Janic.
Arka Gdynia – Legia Warsaw
Nearly 12.000 fans gathered at the stadium in Gdynia to see the match between Arka and Legia Warsaw. Current champions from the capital needed points as they are still fighting for championship with Jagiellonia Bialystok. The Herrings didn’t want to give the points away easily though. After a loss of Cracovia Arka had a great chance of jumping back into the top half of the table. As a result both teams had good motivation to win the match.
First half
First great chance for Arka came already in the 17th minute. Siemaszko made a very good pass over heads of the defenders to Jankowski. The sniper missed the volley shot. This situation showed the guests however that they needed to fight to protect their goal in the game. In the 29th minute Zbozien received a very good cross which he centered into the box. Siemaszko was there to send the ball into the net. He crashed with Malarz though and both players were laying on the grass for a while after the hit. Siemaszko got a yellow card for this situation and fortunately none of the players suffered any serious injury.
Just 4 minutes later Ukrainian midfielder Bogdanov scored a good goal from a free kick. The shot surprised Malarz going through the wall and landed in the net just above goalkeeper’s hand. Arka didn’t want to stop here and they continued to create attacks. At the end of the first half one of the players of Legia kicked the ball into his own arm while making a clearance. The referee however decided that this does not qualify for a penalty.
Second half
The best situation for the guests came at the beginning of the second half. After a free kick the ball flew into the penalty area of Arka Gdynia. In the mess Pazdan touched the ball toward the goal, but Stainbors saved the day.
In the second half coach Ojrzynski decided to keep the attack strong changing Siemaszko and Jankowski who did very good job during the match. As replacements the field entered Esqueda and Zarandia. Though they didn’t score, their presence definitely helped Arka to hold three points in Gdynia.
Situation in the table
After the match in Kielce Lechia remained at the 15th place. As a result they are now in the relegation zone. Will they manage to make a narrow escape and stay in Lotto Ekstraklasa?
Arka Gdynia is now 8th, but this depends also on the performance of Zaglebie Lubin playing against Jagiellonia on Monday. We hope the team from Gdynia will manage to remain their position before the final round of the main season.
The teams are now getting ready for the biggest battle. Both desperate for points, Arka Gdynia and Lechia Gdansk will face each other at Energa stadium in Gdansk.
Before Tricity Derby however, Arka Gdynia plays a match against Korona Kielce. This is the first leg of the semi-finals of Polish Cup which currently rests in Gdynia.
