On Monday night Lechia traveled to Pogon Szczecin for round 5 of the Ekstraklasa 2017/18 season. After only 4 points from a possible 12 so far this season, it was time for Lechia to step up and take advantage of a side who find themselves in the same predicament as Lechia. Pogon have only managed 3 points from a possible 12 and were sitting second off bottom in the league going into this match.
Lechia new signing, Patryk Lipski, started on the bench. Lipski signed for Lechia this week after being released from Ruch Chorzow who failed to pay his wages. He is a 23 year old midfielder and was born in Szczecin. Błażej Augustyn who signed from Italian side Ascoli was also named as one of the starting defenders for his Lechia debut.
The Match
The first half was a pretty lacklustre affair, both teams seemed to cancel each other out. Chances did come for both sides but the defence of the opposition was equally well organised.
Kuciak made some vital saves to keep Lechia in the game and Augustyn looked solid in defence.
The first half ended goalless.
The second half was a lot more entertaining but Lechia allowed Pogon to move the ball around with ease and spent a lot of time penned into their own half, this did allow them to break on the counter but they couldn’t find the quality to get a shot on target. In the 57th minute Peszko tried to link up with Marco Paixao who was in a great position close to goal but the Pogon keeper blocked the pass.
In the 62nd minute Lipski got his debut after he replaced Flávio Paixao. Lipski started well and showed some good skill and vision but he didn’t get the return service to match his vision. Lechia’s frustration was evident as they began to commit some needless fouls, Lipski gave away a dangerous free kick 29 meters from goal in the 74th minute. Pogon took a great shot on goal but Kuciak pulled off an even better save to keep it goalless.
Kuciak was called into action just minutes later when Pogon got a head to the ball at close range after a free kick. During the final 20 minutes Pogon piled on the pressure but with Kuciak is top form and Lechia’s defence looking solid, Pogon could not find a way through. Lechia only managed 2 shots on target and 38% possession.
The match ended 0:0
My Thoughts
Lechia now find themselves in 10 place in the league with only 5 points from a possible 15, this could have been the match to kickstart their season and get their first win in over a month. Once again we saw a lack of creativity. Long balls forward and hoping for something to happen is not the way forward for this team. I understand that this is not the EPL or La Liga but Lechia are one of the biggest clubs in Polish football and we expect more from this team.
However there were some positives to take from this match, the defence was great especially the Augustyn and Vitoria partnership. Kuciak looked like he was back to his best with some great saves and at times kept Lechia in this game. Lipski looks like he has potential, Nunes tried to push forward which could create some opportunities in future if he can continue this and I saw flashes of passion from the team that seemed to be absent in previous matches.
As I have said before, the season is long and it’s far from over, the team still have time to regain that killer instinct needed to turn 1 point into 3 and start moving up the table.
Post Match
Coach Nowak made the following comments in his post match conference:
‘This is a good point for us if we take into account the attitude of the team in Szczecin’
‘The other players are coming back to us, and very good debuts were made by Błażej Augustyn and Patryk Lipski. Dusan Kuciak returned to very good disposition. This is the first step to further work. We all realized it was a tough time, but the attitude of the team is optimistic.’
Next Match
Lechia Gdansk Vs Sandecja Nowy Sacz – Friday 18th August 18:00
