Arka Gdynia crushed Kotwica Kołobrzeg 5-0 in a match in which the visitors were just a backdrop for the excellently prepared hosts. The goals were shared by Hermoso, Sobczak (two), Czubak and Skóra. For the first time this season, Gdynia fans saw Alassane Sidibe on the pitch, who returned to Arka after a few months’ break.
9th round – Betclic 1 league
Arka Gdynia – Kotwica Kołobrzeg 5:0 (3:0)
Goals: Hermoso 13′, Sobczak 17′, 39′(k), Czubak 55′, Skóra 90+3′
Back: Weglarz – Stolc, Hermoso, Marcjanik, Gojny (76′ Lipkowski) – Gaprindashvili (61′ Skóra), Kocaba (76′ Zieliński), Rzuchowski (28′ Sidibe), J.Oliveira (61′ Vitalucci) – Sobczak, Czubak
Anchor: Kozioł – Kosakiewicz – Kozajda, Wełna (67′ Kort), Cywiński (59′ Kurowski), Witasik, Petrović, F. Oliveira, Bykowski (59′ Kreković), Kozłowski, Kostewycz
Yellow cards: Rzuchowski, Kocaba – Petrovic, Wool, Witasik
Judge: Sylwester Rasmus (Torun), VAR: Patryk Gryckiewicz (Torun)
Viewers: 8094
The players and coaches of Arka Gdynia were able to work through the international break in good spirits. Winning against a demanding opponent, Miedź Legnica, and on their own ground, is an achievement that cannot be overestimated. In addition, Alassana Sidibe strengthened the ranks of the yellow-blue team, returning to Gdynia after a few months’ break, but this time for good. A member of the coaching staff, Łukasz Radzimiński, also returned to Arka, but his separation was slightly longer, since 2020.
We wanted to turn the better moods of the last few days into another victory worth three points. The rival was the first league newcomer Kotwica Kołobrzeg. For three members of our rivals’ training staff, the visit to Olimpijska is a sentimental journey, because at the helm of this team are Ryszard Tarasiewicz and Tomasz Wolak, as well as Neves Soares Hermes. Kotwica is a team that can boast the status of the best of the newcomers, because it currently holds 9th place and has points taken from, among others, Wisła Kraków, Wisła Płock, and ŁKS Łódź. Kotwica’s results alone meant that the bar for Arkowcy was set really high and achieving the goal of winning was not an easy task.
Coach Grzegorczyk assumed that a winning team should not be changed and sent almost the same eleven that defeated Miedź into battle. The only exception was the presence of Przemek Stolec, who replaced Marc Navarro. It is worth mentioning that before the first whistle in this match sounded, the fans sang the full version of the National Anthem, because the meeting had a patriotic and military setting and its sponsors were companies related to the arms industry: Grupa WB and PGZ Stocznia Wojenna.
Although the Arkowcy could not find the right rhythm for their game for a long time from the beginning of the match, their first coherent action brought them the lead. Gaprindashvili won a corner kick in the 13th minute of the match, and his short play was finished off with an accurate cross by Dawid Gojny. The ball fell to Kike Hermoso’s head, and the tall Spaniard opened the score with a not very strong but accurate shot!
The guests wanted to respond quickly, but Kostewycz’s shot into the middle of the goal was no problem for Węglarz. In the meantime, Arka followed up – in the 17th minute they took the ball in the middle of the pitch, the ball ended up at Sobczak’s feet, and he decided to shoot from 23 meters. A delicate ricochet, Kozioł slightly late behind the ball and it was 2:0 for Arka! A dream start to the match!
Already in the 28th minute, coach Grzegorczyk reached for the first substitution. Michał Rzuchowski quickly picked up a yellow card, and later managed to offend the referee and risk a second individual penalty. So there was no point in waiting and Sidibe reported on the pitch. In the 30th minute, Sobczak passed the ball 18 meters to Czubak, who shot without thinking and again the ricochet almost changed the result of the match.
In the 34th minute, Gojny carried out an individual action in the penalty area, Kosakiewicz tried to stop him, but failed, and the Kotwica defender, falling to the pitch, touched the ball with his hand. A long VAR analysis resulted in Arka getting a chance to increase the lead from a penalty kick! Just like in Legnica, Szymon Sobczak set the ball up at 11 meters. His shot into the left corner was deflected by Kozioł, but right under the feet of the shooter, who did not waste the follow-up. 3:0 for Arka!
Gdynia, who were doing well in almost everything in this match, were looking for more goals. In the 42nd minute, Joao Oliveira took a long-range shot, but this time Kozioł managed to deflect the ball to the side. Three minutes later, the Swiss player made another similar attempt, but this time he was blocked, as was Czubak a moment later, and Stolec’s third shot missed the goal by a meter.
After the break, it seemed that both teams had come to terms with the decisions made in the first three quarters. Arka had full control over the course of events on the pitch, but they didn’t push the pace particularly hard. Despite this, in the 55th minute, one acceleration by the Gdynia team led to an increase in the lead. Oliveira, being in the penalty area, passed the ball to the approaching Czubak, who struck precisely at the very post, and Kozioł pulled the ball out of his goal for the fourth time!
We had to wait until the 75th minute for another noteworthy event, because it was only in the last quarter of an hour that Arka’s actions gained intensity again. Then Czubak rushed to play behind the defenders’ backs – our striker was faster than the goalkeeper and nudged the ball in front of him, but it missed the goal. A few moments later, Vitalucci showed off a great move, passing the defenders like slalom poles, but when taking a shot from 15 meters, one of the rivals cushioned his force and Kozioł calmly caught it.
In the following minutes, Czubak and Zieliński, who had been brought onto the pitch a few moments earlier, had their chances. In the 81st minute, Czubak ran to a counterattack, beat a defender on the penalty area line and fired a shot on the ground, but this time Kozioł was not surprised. In the 83rd minute, after a short corner by Vitalucci from Sidibe, the Japanese player decided to shoot from 18 meters and only a great intervention by the Kotwica goalkeeper saved the visitors from losing their fifth goal.
In the 88th minute, Arka won a free kick from a distance of about 26 meters in front of Kozioł’s goal. Kacper Skóra attempted to take it, but the visiting goalkeeper had no problems catching the ball. In added time, Karol Czubak could have dotted the “i” but he did not successfully complete a beautiful action initiated by a great pass from Sidibe. What Karol did not do, Kacper Skóra did – a conscious, accurate shot near the post from 14 meters set the score at 5:0 for Arka!
There was only one team in this match – Arka Gdynia. The rivals were unable to counter the hosts in any way, who were doing almost everything today. Arka were painfully effective today and we can only wish for more matches like this, and then we will quickly return to the top of the first league table.
Arkadiusz Skubek
Arka Gdynia – Anchor Kołobrzeg
Goals
5
0
Shots
21
5
Customs
13
2
Corner kicks
6
1
Foul
13
10
Burnt
0
0
Possession of the ball
57%
43%
Yellow cards
2
3
Red cards
0
0
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