Cracovia lost 2:3 to Sandecja Nowy Sącz after extra time and was eliminated from this year’s edition of the Polish Cup. Virgil Ghita and Ajdin Hasić scored goals for Pasy.
Brave Sandecja
Sandecja showed up to the start of the match that, firstly, its league form is no coincidence, and secondly, that it has no fear of the Pasy team. It was the hosts who were the first to create a very good situation for themselves. Already in the 4th minute, after a cross from a corner kick, Przemysław Skałecki made an excellent combination for a situational volley, but fortunately for us, he only hit the crossbar. The same player tested Jakub Burek’s alertness a few minutes later with a long-range shot, but the goalkeeper, debuting in the Pasy first team, confidently dealt with this attempt.
Burek also showed his skills towards the end of the first half, defending a header from close range. Dawid Kroczek’s team also created their chances, and Mateusz Bochnak should have scored a goal in the first half. First, our winger received a great pass from Benjamin Kallman and with a nice short feint he broke away from the defender, but his strong shot from the penalty area line was blocked by Martin Polacek. Just before the break, Bochnak moved at pace to the ball passed by Biedrzycki with his head, quickly breaking away from his opponents, but in the end he released the ball a bit too much, giving Polacek a chance to intervene effectively.
For Ghita’s troubles
The second half of the game started for us in the worst possible way. Arttu Hoskonen’s mistake was exploited by the substitute in the Sączers team, Jakub Wilczyński, who kept his composure, passed Burek and shot into an empty net to give the hosts the lead.
The Pasy were hitting the wall with their heads for a long time, until the end of the match. In the 80th minute, the irreplaceable Virgil Ghita made his presence known again. The Romanian jumped highest to cross and scored with an accurate header in his third consecutive match, this time giving us an equaliser in the cup clash. After five minutes, we were already leading, when a coherent action and an accurate pass by Kallman were used by Ajdin Hasić, who was introduced during the break. When it seemed that we would manage to leave Nowy Sącz with a promotion, Sandecja attacked us with our own weapons in added time. After a cross by Mikkel Maigaard, Piotr Kowalik was the best in the penalty area, forcing extra time.
An effective counterattack decided the outcome
There weren’t many clear-cut chances in extra time, and the game looked similar to most of the second half of regular time. Unfortunately, in the 117th minute, Sandecja’s counterattack decided everything. Otar Kakabadze lost the ball in the middle, the hosts went like crazy and finally the onrushing Wilczyński used the pass from the side of the pitch, completing a double. At the very end, Kallman was close to equalizing, but his header flew just wide of the post, unfortunately from the wrong side for us. Thus, Cracovia said goodbye to the Polish Cup in the 2024/2025 season after the first match.
The next match of Dawid Kroczek’s team is this coming Monday, when we will return to the league competition by hosting Stal Mielec at Kałuża.
Polish Cup | 1/32 finals
Sandecja Nowy Sącz pd 3:2 (0:0, 2:2, 2:2) Cracovia
forum:
1:0 55′ Wilczynski
1:1 80′ Ghita
1:2 85′ Hasić
2:2 90′ Kowalik
3:2 117′ Wilczynski
yellow cards: 26′ Kolbon, 45′ Wolsztyński, 57′ Skałecki, 88′ Wilczyński, 120′ Polacek – 28′ Rózga, 90′ Kakabadze, 110′ Maigaard, 115′ Sokołowski, 120′ Al-Ammari
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Sandecja: 91. Martin Polacek, 24. Kamil Słaby ©, 23. Piotr Kowalik, 17. Tomasz Nawotka, 77. Patryk Bryła (90′ 6. Peter Kolesa), 74. Przemysław Skałecki, 19. Tomasz Kolbon (87′ 27. Eryk Pieczarka), 10. Jakub Sangowski (46′ 99. Jakub Wilczyński), 7. Rafał Wolsztyński (77′ 29. Patryk Peciak), 11. Daniel Pietraszkiewicz (46′ , 9. Wiktor Klos)
substitutes bench: 51. Jakub Bednarek, 3. Petr Buchta, 18. Kacper Talar, 90. Marcin Budziński
coach: Lukasz Mierzejewski
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Krakow: 26. Jakub Burek, 3. Andreas Skovgaard, 5. Virgil Ghita ©, 22. Arttu Hoskonen, 16. Bartosz Biedrzycki (58′ 19. David Olafsson), 6. Amir Al-Ammari, 8. Jani Atanasov, 77. Patryk Janasik (58′ 25. Otar Kakabadze), 18. Filip Rózga (46′ 14. Ajdin Hasić), 9. Benjamin Kallman, 17. Mateusz Bochnak (58′ 11. Mikkel Maigaard)
substitutes bench: 27. Henrich Ravas, 23. Fabian Bzdyl, 24. Jakub Jugas, 66. Oskar Wójcik, 88. Patryk Sokołowski
coach: David Kroczek
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judges: Patryk Świerczek (main), Marcin Ciepły, Dominik Paul (assistant), Radosław Kraj (technical)
attendance: without the participation of fans
