In round 27 of the Ekstraklasa on Sunday 2nd April at 18:00 Lechia Gdansk hosted Zaglebie Lubin at the Stadion Energa in Gdansk.
This was a crucial game in the race for the title as both Legia Warszawa and Jagiellonia Bialystok had taken all 3 points this round before Lechia even kicked off. Lechia went into this match having lost the previous three in the league so really needed to get back to its winning ways to keep the pressure on the top teams.
The Fans
The match kicked off in front of 16,263 fans who were definitely up for the occasion. I have been in stadiums with over 75,000 fans and that really didn’t come close to the atmosphere the Lechia fans created, at some points in the game the noise was deafening. Fantastic support for the Lechia fans attending this match.
The Match
Lechia started the first half well with a shot on target within the 1st minute. The pace of the match was fast and both teams had chances in the first 20 minutes but couldn’t convert. Lechia captain, Milos Krasic, seemed to be controlling the midfield and creating chances for his strikers.
In the 26th minute the Lechia fans really got behind their team, with the sound of the beating drum in the background, Lechia surged forward, Rafel Wolski looked like he was going to shoot but crossed the ball into the box to Lukas Haraslin who assisted the seemingly unmarked Marco Paixao to score a close range header, a goal for Lechia! 1:0. Marco Paixao’s goal was his 10th league goal of the season and takes him to join the top scorer for Lechia this season.
Just before half time, Flávio Paixao, missed a sitter in front of Lublin’s goal. He couldn’t keep the ball down and kicked it straight over the bar, big missed opportunity for Lechia.
Lublin was well organized especially on the counter attack but Lechia’s defense was well up to the task even though they did concede a lot of corners.
Lechia deservedly lead 1:0 going into half time.
The Second half
The second half was a lot slower than the first. Lechia didn’t take too many risks in attacking and sat back defending but chances did come up, Lechia hit the crossbar with a great shot from outside the area by Ariel Borysiuk. There were also clear chances for Lublin to score in the second half with Lechia’s goalkeeper, Dusan Kuciak, pulling off some decent saves.
Lublin’s Coach Piotr Stolowiec spent most of the game at the edge of his technical area shouting instructions to his team but this had little effect and at the final whistle it was Lechia who took all 3 points and their first clean sheet since 12th February.
Final Score 1:0
Man of the Match
My man of the match goes to Lechia Captain Milos Krasic. The Serbian, who once played his football for Juventus in Italy, controlled the game and lead his team to a great victory.
Details:
Substitutions Lechia
59th Joao Nunes on for Lukas Haraslin
79th Grzegorz Kuswik on for Marco Paixao
88th Simeon Slawczew on for Flávio Paixao
Substitutions Lubin
46th Lukasz Janoszka on for Filip Jagiello
69th Jan Vlasko on for Krzysztof Janus
80th Pawel Zyra on for Jaroslaw Kubicki
Yellow Cards
35th Lubomir Guldan (Lubin)
77th Jaroslaw Kubicki (Lubin)
90th Grzegorz Kuswik (Lechia)
Next Match
Sunday 9th April
14:30
Piast Gliwice Vs Lechia Gdansk
