It was good. It was really good, until the 85th minute. Lechia did a lot to win against Raków Częstochowa. In the last minutes, however, they did even more to finally lose. And after terrible mistakes in defense, they lost 1:2.
After the first five rounds, the demands on Lechia have gone down the drain. There is not much left of the spectacular, sometimes even exciting team that won the first league. If Lechia had played last season like they did in the first half of the match with Raków, they would not have been criticized. But today they have to be… praised.
For organizing the game, defensive responsibility, rebuilding the formation. The White and Greens played thoughtfully and sensibly, Ivan Żelizko filled in the center of defense, which is why the hosts played in a defensive formation with five defenders. This proved to be a test. Up front, apart from one dribble by Maksym Chłań and one cross by Anton Tsarenko, nothing happened. In general, the match was hard to watch at all, but Lechia is in such a situation today that it deserved a few compliments after these 45 minutes.
MAESTRO CHECKED INTO THE ELITE
Rifet Kapić has been lacking in form in Lechia this season. He only showed some of his skills, but he was far from his best form. In the first half he worked a lot in defense, in the second he also added some specifics up front. The first germ was a pass to Camilo Mena in the penalty area, so perfectly in the Bosnian’s style, but the action failed to finish.
In the 59th minute, Mena passed to Kapić, somewhat out of necessity, because he lacked a concept in the play. Kapić went onto his left foot and struck perfectly towards the far corner. Kacper Trelowski touched the ball with his fingers, but it went into the goal anyway, bouncing off the post. The Gdańsk maestro showed class.
Immediately after the goal, things got heated up in front of Lechia’s goal, Raków started to press. However, the problem of Marek Papszun’s team is the play in the positional attack. Częstochowa’s play is simply terribly boring and predictable. Of course, this does not mean that Lechia cannot be surprised in this way, because in the Ekstraklasa they can be surprised by anything so far.
KILLER CANCER TIP
And Rakow finally managed to do it, even twice. A cross from the half-space (which one already this season into Lechia’s penalty area?) to Makuch’s head was enough for him to beat Szymon Weirach. He had full comfort, because Elias Olsson was practicing creative art in his own penalty area, which cannot be called defending.
A moment later, he was joined by Miłosz Kałahur, Żelizko and Bujar Pllana, or rather, half of Lechia’s line-up could be listed here. Raków pressed with a fast attack, Gustav Berggren passed to Jonatan Braut Brunes, and Erling Haaland’s cousin gave the visitors victory.
Lechia really did a lot in the first 85 minutes not to lose to Rakow. What’s more, they worked hard to win this match. In the end, however, they played naively and, above all, terribly in terms of the quality of their defense. That was enough for Rakow to take three points from Gdańsk.
Tymoteusz Kobiela
