On Friday night Lechia hosted Sandecja Nowy Sacz for round 6 of the Ekstraklasa 2017/18 season. Since the last match Lechia have added another new signing to their squad, Joao Oliveira. The attacking midfielder signed from Swiss team FC Luzern and made his debut tonight. This match was set up to be the kick start to Lechia’s season, nothing less than 3 points were needed.
The Match
Lechia looked nervous as Sandecja pressed forward from the off. It took till the 11th minute for Lechia to settle into the game and start moving the ball around with confidence. Disaster struck in the 15th minute. Sandecja hit Lechia on the counter attack. As a result Dudzic caught the defense sleeping, scoring an easy tap in at close range. In the 24th minute Krasic replaced Wawrzyniak. Lechia were trying to create chances but everything they did failed and so far they had no shots on target. In the 28th minute Krasic had a great opportunity but fell over the ball in the area. Lipski and Peszko were both trying to create chances and break forward but their final touch was poor, long balls resulting in nothing.
In the 30th minute the atmosphere changed in the stadium, gone was the normal singing and drums replaced by anger from the crowd, whistles and boos echoed around the stadium, this leased for a tense 5 minutes. In the 42nd minute Lechia allowed Sandecja to move the ball around their penalty area with ease and they scored an almost exact replica of their first goal. This was turning into an embarrassment for Lechia.
On the stroke of half time the fans made their feelings known once more as the Lechia players walked off with their heads down.
Half Time 0:2
Second Half
Lechia came out early from their half time break to jeers from the crowd. There was one change for Lechia – Flávio Paixao replaced Joao Oliveira for the second half. In the 50th minute Lipski took the perfect corner which found the head of Marco Paixao who put it straight in the back of the net. 1:2 and Lechia were back in it. In the 52nd minute Peszko, with a great individual run, made it into the penalty area and set up Flávio who couldn’t control the ball and wasted the opportunity. Lechia found some passion and aggression to start to put pressure on the Sandecja defenders. This lifted the crowd which in turn lifted the team further. Peszko netted the equalizer for Lechia in the 50th minute after another assist from Lipski 2:2! The crowd went wild!
In the 65th minute Lipski stepped up for a free kick in a dangerous position, he decided to go for goal but his shot was well over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Krasic rounded the keeper and missed an open goal, shocking control. Lechia were pressing hard, willing to win the match. Lipski’s passing and movement was by far the best on the pitch.
After about 70 minutes of the match Lechia seemed to run out of energy. As a result Sandecja started to get back into the game. In the 77th minute Adrian Danek broke free of the Lechia defense and saw his long range shot fly past Kuciak into the goal to make it 2:3. In the 81st minute Lipski managed to get in between the Sandecja defenders and set Krasic up in the area. The midfielder failed to control the ball and wasted the opportunity.
Some of the 11,019 fans headed for the exits well before the full time whistle, clearly disappointed in what they had seen.
Full Time 2:3
My Thoughts
I don’t know if I can defend that performance as I really feel the frustration of the fans. It’s gone from bad to worse for Lechia. Is it just a run of bad luck or is there something much more deep routed that is wrong with the team?
There was a spell after half time when Lechia showed how they can and should play. They scored the two goals, but the energy soon fizzled out. The only positives I can take from this match were Lipski, Nunes and Peszko who all played well in my opinion. Lipski linking up with Peszko was the main driver in the decent spell that Lechia had. Nunes played in a sort of holding position between midfield and defense and I think this really suits him.
Joao Oliveira didn’t have the best of debuts but I guess we need to give some time to settle in, he has only been at the club for a week. With Lechia out of the cup, no European football and in free fall in the league something needs to change.
Post Match
Coach Nowak made the following comments in his post match conference:
‘In the first half we played poorly. My players knew how Sandecja players were leading their attacks, and yet they were not vigilant and made mistakes. Such mistakes can not happen to us. With experienced players in the defense we have to be more responsible. The team should clean such situations. In the break we showed the players some solutions and in the second part of the match we made a few minutes to compensate. Unfortunately, after that we lost pace and it turned against us.’
‘In the second half, Adam Owen coached the team. Together we have found that this solution will be most appropriate’
‘As for the cries of fans from the stands, I am against any personal attacks. I think it is more important to cheer up your beloved team’
Next Match
Wisla Krakow Vs Lechia Gdansk – Saturday 26th August 20:30