Lech Poznań - FC Utrecht 2:2

Shortly after the match began, Lech was already in trouble. The referee blew the first whistle, van de Streek crossed the ball into the box and Kerk, who was left unmarked, redirected it into the back of the net. Putnocky was helpless and Lech was in a very difficult situation – they now needed to score 2 goals without conceding another one.

Within a dozen or so minutes Lech was back on track and determined to equalize as soon as possible. In the 21^st minute Majewski hit the crossbar. 5 minutes later the midfielder’s cross reached Gytkjaer and the latter placed the ball in the back of the net. The Dane could have added another 3 minutes later, but this time his shot was off target.

Lech’s domination was even more evident following the goal. In the 32nd minute Kostevych’s cross could have been converted into a goal by Gytkjaer, but the forward’s shot was inaccurate. A couple of minutes later Makuszewski passed the ball to Situm and the latter’s shot caused a bit of problems to the goalkeeper, but eventually Lech was awarded a corner kick only. The Dutchmen had a single scoring chance before halftime when Emanuelson was unmarked in the box, but his attempt was far off target.

The opening minutes of the second half were dominated by the Dutchmen. In the 51^st minute the guests scored a goal, but it was ruled offside. 2 minutes later Kerk raced into the box without any problems and fired a shot, but off target. Soon after Labyad tried surprising Putnocky, but his attempt was blocked by one of Lech’s defenders. The hosts had a couple of scoring chances too, however, neither Tralka nor Gytkjaer managed to convert them into actual goals.

Lech managed to dominate the match again. Makuszewski who was placed on the right flank caused a lot of problems to the Dutch defensive line. The midfield duo Majewski and Tralka performed well too. Since the 70th minute on Lech had another advantage – 11 players against 10. Leeuwin fouled Makuszewski and received a second yellow card and was sent off the pitch. However, Lech seemed to struggle to enclose their rival in the penalty area the way they did in the first half. Following the loss of a player, Utrecht focused solely on the defensive.

The last 15 minutes were exhilarating and full of surprises In the 88th minute Rakels could have finished off a great team action led by Majewski and Kostevych, but he was late. A moment later Utrecht counterattacked… and scored. Kostevych’s mistake helped the Dutchmen recover the ball and Labyad placed it in the back of an unguarded goal. The players from Poznan had 7 minutes to score 2 goals. They managed to find the back of the net in the 93^rd minute, but Gytkjaer goal wasn’t enough and a 2:2 draw meant an elimination from the Europa League qualifications.

LECH POZNAŃ - FC UTRECHT 2:2 (1:1)

Goals: Gytkjaer (25), Gytkjaer (90+3) - Kerk (1), Labyad (89)

Yellow cards: Vujadinović, Situm, Nicki Bille - Janssen, van der Maarel, Leeuwin, Ayoub

Red cards: Leeuwin (two yellow cards)

Lech: Matus Putnocky - Emir Dilaver (80. Deniss Rakels), Nikola Vujadinović, Rafał Janicki, Volodymyr Kostevych - Łukasz Trałka, Abdul Aziz Tetteh (85. Nicki Bille), Radosław Majewski - Maciej Makuszewski, Christiaj Gytkjaer, Mario Situm (71. Nicklas Barkroth)

FC Utrecht: David Jensen - Sean Kleiber, Mark van der Maarel, Willen Janssen, Edson Braafheid (69. Robin van der Meer) - Sander van De Streek, Ramon Leeuwin, Urby Emmanuelson (46. Yassin Aayub) - Zakaria Labyad - Gyrano Kerk (74. Giovanni Troupee), Cyriel Dessers

Attendance: 33 446