Arka’s adventure with this year’s edition of the Polish Cup has ended. Gdynia lost to Piast Gliwice 1-3 in front of their home crowd, losing the decisive goals in overtime. Skóra started shooting in the match in the 57th minute, but the PKO Ekstraklasa team advanced to Rosołek, Szczepański and Katsantonis.
1/16 final of the Polish Cup:
Arka Gdynia – Piast Gliwice 1:3 (0:0, 1:1, 1:1)
Goals: Leather 57′ – Rosołek 60′, Szczepański 113′, Katsantonis 118′(k)
Back: Lenarcik – Lipkowski, Marcjanik, Dobrotka, Gojny (67′ Stolc) – Ratajczyk (34′ Navarro), Sidibe, Borecki, Vitalucci (86′ Sobczak), Skóra (67′ Gaprindashwili) – Czubak (91′ Oliveira)
Piast: Szymański – Mokwa (78′ Drapiński), Munoz, Czerwiński, Lewicki (69′ Pyrka), Huk, Chrapek (69′ Tomasiewicz), Leśniak (78′ Katsantoris), Kądzior, Rosołek (97′ Szczepański), Piasecki
Yellow cards: Dobrotka, Sidibe, Marcjanik – Huk
Judge: Grzegorz Kawałko (Olsztyn); VAR: Patryk Gryckiewicz (Toruń)
Viewers: 4786
This week, Arka fans can stop worrying about the Betclic 1 Liga for a while, because our players have returned to the cup competition. This time, fate assigned the Gdynia team a rival from PKO Ekstraklasa, so interest in the match naturally increased. Especially since Piast Gliwice came to the Olimpijska Street, which fans of the yellow and blue team associate with winning the semi-final of this competition and Arka’s trip to the National Stadium. Today we wouldn’t mind if this history repeated itself.
The cup match took place between the two most difficult league matches in the round, because immediately after the match against the leader and three days before the match against the runner-up in the first league. Naturally, coach Grzegorczyk had to manage his players’ strength very wisely so that the quality of their form in matches for priceless league points would not suffer. It is therefore not surprising that in the starting eleven we saw, among others: Lenarcik, Lipkowski, Dobrotka, Borecki, Ratajczyk, Vitalucci and Skóra, i.e. players who have recently started matches more often on the bench. The match against Piast is an ideal opportunity for them to convince the coach and the fans that their current condition predisposes them to have a chance to play in the league as well.
The visiting team has two players in the starting lineup who have played in Gdynia. Tomasz Mokwa left our city when he was still a junior, but many fans remember this boy who strongly aspired to play in the first team. The second one was Maciej Rosołek, who was in Gdynia on loan from Legia Warszawa less than three years ago. He scored 12 goals for Arka over two rounds, so he is remembered as an effective striker. Grzegorz Tomasiewicz also sat on the bench. His stay in Gdynia was not long, but he also signaled several times that he had a lot of talent, which the team from Gliwice is now using.
From the first minutes of the match, both teams tried to attack. In the 3rd minute, Chrapek crossed the ball from a free kick from the left side of our penalty area and it could have been dangerous, but the Gdynia defenders did an exemplary job. In response, Ratajczyk showed off a nice individual move, deceiving two opponents with a successful dribble, but the third one, already in the penalty area, stopped his action. In the 7th minute, Czubak gave Skora an opportunity to run into the penalty area with a nice pass, but Kacper released the ball too hard and didn’t even take a shot.
In the 10th minute, the Gdynia team attempted a very complex and effective action, which included an idea, precision and a one-touch game. Unfortunately, at the most important moment, Ratajczyk was a little late with the decision to shoot and again we did not employ Karol Szymański, who was guarding Piast’s goal. A moment later, Oskar Leśniak shot off target from a distance. In the 20th minute, a surprising attempt from a sharp angle was made by Skóra, who, after receiving the ball by Czubak, checked Szymański’s alertness by firing a technical shot, but the goalkeeper from Gliwice made no mistake.
In the 34th minute, Adam Ratajczyk ended his performance in the match after reporting a muscle problem. Marc Navarro appeared in his place. In the 43rd minute, Sidibe jumped to cross the ball into the penalty area, and as a result of a fight with the defender, the ball fell straight onto Likpowski’s leg. Kasjan immediately decided to shoot, but… he didn’t hit the ball cleanly. In the added time, Arkowcy entered the Gliwice penalty area twice more, but this did not translate into a threat to Piast’s goal.
Arka could have started the second half in the best possible way, i.e. by scoring a goal, but there was no luck. Marc Navarro decided to take a surprising shot from outside the penalty area, after which the ball bounced off the inside of the post, rolled along the goal line, but went out into the field!
What is delayed will not escape – in the 57th minute of the match, Arka took the lead! Beautiful action, the ball passed from the right to the left, where Dawid Gojny precisely centered five meters straight at the head of the running Skóra, who gave Szymański no chance!
Unfortunately, the hosts’ joy lasted only three minutes. Then Chrapek surprised us with a pass between the defenders, the ball was taken over by Rosołek, and the Piast striker remembered how he scored goals at Olimpijska Street and in a one-on-one situation he confidently defeated Lenarcik.
In the 70th minute, the stands were boiling and Karol Czubak was knocked down in the corner of the visitors’ penalty area, but the referee remained unmoved. There was also no intervention from the VAR car. 120 seconds later, Gaprindashvili’s quick action on the right wing was rewarded with a dangerous shot at the post and Szymański’s successful intervention.
In the 78th minute, Pyrka, who had been introduced to the pitch a moment earlier, carried out an individual action in which he passed other Ark players until he finally ran into the penalty area with the ball, but Dobrotka made a fantastic intervention there. The ball landed at the feet of Rosołek, who fired a light and missed shot. However, Pyrka’s action deserved recognition because it could have given the guests the lead.
In the 86th minute, a ball played from the left side crossed our penalty area along the sixth meter, but fortunately without any consequences. Tomasiewicz’s shot from the last minute of regular game time also did not pose a threat to Lenarcik. This took us to overtime.
In added time, Sobczak was replaced by Oliveira on the left wing, replacing Karol Czubak. In this part of the match, however, there was no point in waiting for any quick, aggressive actions – there were many exchanges of passes in the middle of the field, which very rarely contributed anything to the offensive game. The exception was the situation in the hundredth minute, when Pyrka broke into our penalty area on the right wing, but then played straight into Lenarcik’s hands. A moment later, Gaprindashvili carried out a similar action in Arka, but he also failed to pass the ball to the goal.
In the last action of the first part of overtime, the team from Gliwice came close to scoring a goal. After playing from a set piece into our penalty area, the ball fell under Szczepański’s feet, who immediately fired a strong shot at the near post, but Lenarcik managed to intervene.
In the 108th minute, Dobrotka made a simple mistake, which Kastantonis wanted to take advantage of, shooting a shot from over 40 meters because Lenarcik came high from the goal. Fortunately, the Cypriot failed in this attempt. A few moments later, Arka could have threatened from a set piece, but Navarro’s cross went to the Piast defender closest to him.
In the 113th minute, the Spaniard crossed the ball from a corner kick, and Marcianik had the opportunity to shoot with his right foot, but our stopper failed to shoot. Szymański quickly resumed the game, sending the ball into our half of the pitch. There, Szczepański won the speed duel with our players, and when he only had Lenarcik in front of him, he sent the ball over our goalkeeper and gave the guests the lead.
In the 116th minute, Dobrotka committed a foul inside the penalty area, hitting Katsantonis’ legs. After a moment of hesitation, the referee pointed to the eleventh meter. Piasecki took the penalty kick very confidently and it became clear that the fate of the match was decided. Nothing happened until the final whistle that could have changed the final result in any way.
Arka ended its participation in this year’s edition of the Polish Cup in the 1/16 finals. It’s a pity, but he doesn’t have to be ashamed of his performance against a team from the PKO Ekstraklasa. I also regret the effort that had to be put into 120 minutes of the fight, because in just three days a lot of energy will be needed to compete with Wisła Płock. However, we believe that coach Grzegorczyk has everything under control and on Saturday no one will be healthy enough to fight for all the points.
Arkadiusz Skubek
Arka Gdynia – Piast Gliwice
Goals
1
3
Shots
8
14
Accurate
3
4
Corner kicks
5
4
Foul
159
Burnt
1
3
Ball possession
45%
55%
Yellow cards
3
1
Red cards
0
0
Tickets for the match Arka Gdynia – Wisła Płock
Alright, let’s get into this Polish Cup match report as if we were all sat around in a comedy club talking about it. Imagine me, Jimmy Carr-style, standing with a mic, Rowan Atkinson making those charmingly bewildered faces, Ricky Gervais chuckling at the absurdity, and Lee Evans bouncing around with energy. So, here we go!
The Polish Cup Disappointment: Arka Gdynia vs. Piast Gliwice
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brace yourselves! Arka Gdynia’s dancing shoes were on for the Polish Cup, but it looks like they’ve stepped on a landmine instead of the dance floor! A hearty welcome to our football tragedy of the week: Arka Gdynia, our locals, have been elegantly eliminated from the Polish Cup, losing 1-3 to Piast Gliwice! Yes, you heard me right. They didn’t just lose; they ended the match in theatrical overtime, which is like asking for a comedy encore and the jokes just fall flat.
The Match Breakdown – It Wasn’t All Bad!
In front of a modest crowd of just under 5,000 people—who by the way, are likely wondering how they got their weekend back—Arka took an early shot at glory but ended up signing themselves up for an episode of “What Went Wrong?”
The first half was about as exciting as a napping tortoise. Neither team could score—probably because their shots had all the precision of a blindfolded dart player at a pub quiz. But wait! It was the second half that saw ‘Skóra’—and no, I’m not talking about a new skincare regime—actually netting the first goal in the 57th minute! The crowd thought they were going to witness a miracle. Gydnia fans could almost taste the victory… but it turns out they’d just ordered stale bread instead.
Just three minutes later, they’re living the horror movie as Rosołek from Piast casually sauntered past our defenders like they were standing still, leveling the match at 1-1. I mean, if this was a horror film, Rosołek would be the villain and the defenders? Just meat for the grinder! One moment you’re high-fiving your mate and the next you’re looking at each other like, “Did that just happen?”
Overtime Mayhem
The match looked set for overtime, and the tension could be cut with a knife—if only it were that simple! Overtime began and what do you know, Szczepański made it 2-1 for Piast in the 113th minute. You could practically hear the collective gasp from Gdynia—like steam escaping a kettle—with fans holding their hearts in dramatic fashion!
But that was just the beginning of the end. Katsantonis sealed it with a penalty kick in the dying moments, leaving the home crowd flabbergasted. Honestly, folks, if that game was a date, it would be the kind where you both walk out thinking it didn’t go as planned, while your friends roll their eyes at the whole affair!
The Aftermath
And how about the manager, Grzegorz Grzegorczyk? He’s probably looking at his players like a disappointed father after a dismal school report. “Boys, you had one job!” he must be thinking, knowing full well he has to whip them into shape for the upcoming league clash with Wisła Płock.
There’s a silver lining here, though. Despite being out of the cup, Arka fans can rest easy for a minute, at least until the league games begin again. But with energy levels at an all-time low after a grueling 120 minutes where they ran around like they were auditioning for a new Jersey Shore, they might just need an intervention—some Gatorade and motivational speeches perhaps?
Conclusion
At the end of the day, it’s a tough loss, but you know what they say: “When one door closes, another one opens.” Unless that door is the dressing room door after a performance like this. Then you probably just want to run, escape, and never look back!
So here’s to Arka! Show us what you’ve got in the league. Just remember—don’t take it too seriously. After all, it’s just football… and it’s not life or death. Unless, of course, you’re a Gdynia fan, then it’s practically war!
Thank you, thank you! You’ve been a wonderful audience! Remember to tip your waitresses—or your defenders, they might need it!
And there you have it! A blend of witty commentary, sharp observations, and a touch of cheekiness to entertain while also mourning for the Arka fans. Let’s hope for better in their next match!
How to pull a rabbit out of a hat magic trick
D and utterly bewildered. It was like watching a magician pull a rabbit from a hat and then immediately realize he’s actually just pulled out a brick! They’d gone from “We might just win this!” to “Oh no, here come the tears!” faster than you can say “red card.”
What the Stats Say
Now, if we dig into the stats, let’s just say Arka had a bit of a mixed bag. With only 45% possession, it’s safe to say they spent more time chasing shadows than actually having the ball! They launched 8 shots but only managed to hit the target 3 times—what a shame! Meanwhile, Piast had 14 shots, landing 4 on goal. It’s like they brought a sniper to a water pistol fight—talk about overkill!
And don’t get me started on corner kicks! Arka had 5 opportunities to make something happen, but it’s like inviting friends over for dinner and serving them only toast. Not quite the feast we were hoping for, and definitely not enough to satisfy those footballing appetites!
It’s Not All Doom and Gloom!
But hold your horses, folks! Let’s not forget, Arka put up a valiant fight against a top-tier team. They may have bowed out in the 1/16 finals, but they can hold their heads high. The lads threw themselves into every tackle as if they were trying to win the gold medal in wrestling! And bless them, after 120 minutes of energy-sapping drama, they’re now gearing up for a match against Wisła Płock in just three days! Someone pass the Gatorade!
So, here’s to our brave warriors on the pitch! May their next match be filled with less drama and more goals. And as for you lot, remember to bring your best banter and keep the spirits high, because a football match isn’t just about winning; it’s about enjoying every laugh and tear along the way!
Final Thoughts
In the grand tale of Arka Gdynia, it may not have ended the way they dreamed, but remember folks—this is football! There’s always next season, and who knows, they might just be the underdogs that turn into the heroes of tomorrow. Let’s give them a round of applause, and for now, keep your heads up, Arka!
Thank you, and goodnight!
