Lechia Gdansk won the Tricity derby by 4-2 thanks to a superb first half. In absence of his suspended brother, Flavio Paixao scored a hat-trick that helped Lechia finish regular phase out of relegation zone. Arka scored twice in second half but the goals were not enough to put Gdynia’s team in the first eight of the championship.
High motivation before Tricity Derby
Lechia Gdansk ended regular phase of Ekstraklasa with a win at home at the Tricity derby. It was the only win for the White&Greens in the last 12 games for the Polish championship. After three defeats in the championship, the team landed in the relegation zone. To add to a difficulty, the best scorer of the team – Marco Paixao was suspended. His brother however filled the position perfectly becoming a star of this Tricity Derby.
Lechia Gdansk reached their first goal in the 14th minute after a quick counterattack. Nalepa, with a long pass, served Slawomir Peszko who lost no time passing to Haraslin finding his position well in the box. Steinbors saved the header, but Flavio was in the right spot and did not miss giving Lechia the lead.
Eleven minutes later, Arka’s defence was not very effective again allowing Lechia to score the second goal. Slavchev, served by Peszko, crossed for an incomplete intervention by Marcjanik. Lipski got the ball and passed to Peszko coming from behind who beat Steinbors for the second time.
Right after that, another Lechia’s goal this time after a penalty kick. Haraslin was brought down by Bohdanov in the box in the 27th minute. Flavio Paixao did not tremble at the 11-meter mark and amplified Lechia’s advantage in this Tricity Derby. This however was not the final punch of the team from Gdansk in the first part of the match.
With 39 minutes on the clock, Lechia Gdansk profited from Arka’s mistake again one more time. Lipski served the unmarked Flavio with a superb pass. The Portuguese completed his hat-trick with a perfect header.
Second half
With the victory secured in Tricity derby, Lechia Gdansk gave the second half to the away team. As a result, Arka managed to score two goals before the final whistle.
In the 65th minute, Zarandia circled Lechia’s defence and shot a spectacular goal from a reduced angle. The shot surprised everyone including keeper Kuciak that could have done much better in this situation. Due to multiple interruptions in the match, the referee had to add 9 minutes. Arka used this chance to lower defeat.
Already in the last seconds of the nine-minute added time Mexican forward Esqueda got his goal. After a free kick by Szwoch, Esqueda behaved well in the box giving the second goal to Yellow&Blues.
Situation in the table
With this result, Lechia Gdansk has now 30 points in 30 games. As a result, they left the relegation zone having now one point more than Termalica and five more than Sandecja Nowy Sacz. Arka Gdynia, with 40 points, ended regular phase of Ekstraklasa in ninth place, just one place away from the top half of the table.
As both Lechia Gdansk and Arka Gdynia will end championship in the relegation part of the table, there will be another Tricity derby. This is coming in just five days, on April 13th in Gdynia.
