With a difficult 3:2 victory at home over Jagiellonia, Lechia Gdansk has now five points more than Legia Warszawa. Arka Gdynia also won at home over Wisla Krakow by 4:1 in a game where the away team created many difficulties for the Tricity team.
Lechia Gdansk – Jagiellonia Bialystok
Lechia Gdansk gets a bigger and bigger advantage on top of Ekstraklasa after a 3:2 home win against Jagiellonia Bialystok. The guests were then second in the Polish championship and the game was far from being easy for the home team.
Feeling the possibility to equalize Lechia on the top with a win, Jagiellonia soon started to haunt home team’s defense. In the 7th minute, Bezjak headed to the goal after a great cross from Novikovas but keeper Alomerovic was there to save what could well be the 0:1.
Alomerovic, who showed up in the place of suspended Kuciak, was again crucial 10 minutes later. He opposed a fine header by Runje after a Jagiellonia’s free kick well. The keeper also showed his skills in the 29th minute when defender Vitoria almost made an own-goal after a cross by Novikovas.
Everything changed in the 32nd minute, however, when Michalak attempted to shot to Jagiellonia’s goal and the ball touched Runje’s hand inside the box. The referee confirmed that there was a reason for a penalty and Paixao scored his fourth goal in four games. This was also the tenth goal of the Portuguese in the season.
Jagiellonia’s answer did not take long as in the 39th minute Poletanovic shot from a very long distance. The ball touched the post before entering the goal. Alomerovic had no chances in what could well be one the best goals of the season.
It was Lechia Gdansk though that got to the half-time in advantage. On the stroke of the 45th minute, Kubicki shot on goal and the ball bounced to Mitrovic. This situation left keeper Kelemen unable to save the 2:1 for the home team.
Second half
Eight minutes into the second half, Jagiellonia got the equalizer once again. After a cross from the left, Kubicki tried to put the ball away from Lechia’s box, but it went straight into Novikovas. The player from Jagiellonia was free and able to shoot out of the reach of keeper Alomerovic.
In the 56th minute, Lechia Gdansk could have reached the advantage once again. Paixao, after a cross from the right, headed towards the goal. Mitrovic was still able to get in the way and to avoid the 3:2.
The advantage came eleven minutes later. Mladenovic served Nalepa with a perfect free kick. The defender didn’t have problems to score the winning goal for the hosts. Right after that, Lechia still could male the 4:2. Kubicki, however, was unable to touch the ball after a magnificent cross by Haraslin.
Arka Gdynia – Wisla Krakow
On Monday, in the last game of the 16th round of Ekstraklasa, Arka Gdynia got closer to the top half of the classification. This was possible thanks to a 4:1 home win over Wisla Krakow, now sixth in the championship
Arka Gdynia created a good opportunity already in the third minute when Aankour shot towards the goal after a cross from Marciniak. Keeper Lis, however, was able to avoid the 1:0. In answer, it was Wisla Krakow that was near the goal with a fantastic shot by Imaz. The ball ended up hitting the post though.
The left side of Arka’s attack would again cause problems for Wisla as it had happened in the third minute. As a result, in the 14th minute, Aankour shot for a goal from out of the box.
Arka had yet another big chance to score two minutes later after a header by Jankowski that somehow keeper Lis was able to stop. In the 20th minute, however, Ondrasek got the equalizer for Wisla with a brilliant header after a cross from Palcic.
In a game full of goal opportunities, Arka Gdynia regained the advantage in the 26th minute. Marciniak crossed to the box and Zarandia first shot against Wisla’s defender and then with success into Wisla’s goal.
In the 32nd minute, Ondrasek was very near his second goal after a header that Jankowski was able to deflect to the corner effectively. This good behavior definitely helped keeper Steinbors who would have no chance to reach that ball.
Second half
In the second half, Arka Gdynia again got in trouble again when Boguski appeared completely alone in front of keeper Steinbors. Fortunately, Wisla’s forward wasn’t able to head to goal failing an easy goal.
Arka Gdynia amplified its advantage 15 minutes from time when Jankowski isolated himself and shot against keeper Lis. After the rebound, the striker headed for 3:1 after jumping higher than Wasilewski.
Although having a two-goal disadvantage, Wisla didn’t quit the game and almost got the 3:2 with a fantastic shot by Imaz to the bar. It was the second shot to the woodwork by the Spanish Wisla midfielder in the game.
Keeper Stenbors would still save a great header by Palcic in the 85th minute. Shortly after that, Arka Gdynia confirmed its victory with Zarandia’s goal after substitute Marcus da Silva shot for an incomplete save by Lis.
Aftermath
With this results, Lechia Gdansk is now five points ahead of Legia Warszawa, now second in Ekstraklasa, and with six points more than Jagiellonia and Korona Kielce. Arka Gdynia remained ninth just one point away from Lech Poznan.
