Lech Poznań - Korona Kielce 6:1

Following a three-week international break, Lech returned to competitive action. They had resumed their domestic campaign with a convincing 4:1 victory over Śląsk Wrocław, which helped them advance to second place in the PKO BP Ekstraklasa. However, they were unable to pick up points on the European stage, suffering a painful 4:0 defeat to German side Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday. October is nevertheless the busiest month of the season for Lech, with five more fixtures awaiting Niels Frederiksen’s men before the end of the month across three different competitions. In Europe, they will face Sunderland; in the Polish Cup, they will take on Siarka Tarnobrzeg; and in the league, they are set to meet Korona Kielce, Legia Warsaw, and Wisła Cracow.

Niels Frederiksen’s side made an assertive start to Sunday’s match. They launched their first successful attack as early as the fourth minute, when Patrik Wålemark latched onto an excellent long pass from the right and fired a powerful, precise shot into the net to open the scoring. Just two minutes later, the hosts were 2:0 up. Luis Palma switched play to Joel Pereira, who was making a run into the penalty area. The Portuguese defender controlled the ball before laying it off to the well-positioned Pablo Rodríguez, who made no mistake.

In the 22nd minute, the hosts struck again – this time it was Mikael Ishak who added his name to the scoresheet. Lech’s captain collected the ball from Rodríguez and extended his side’s lead. Korona tried to threaten Mateusz Lis’s goal in the closing stages of the first half, but Lech’s goalkeeper stopped Martin Remacle’s effort. Just before the break, Rodriguez scored his second goal of the afternoon. The 25-year-old received a perfectly timed pass from Ishak from inside his own half, found himself one-on-one with the opponent’s goalkeeper and calmly changed the score.

The Poznań side continued to dominate after the break. Although the guests managed to break through Lech’s defence twice, Mateusz Lis came to the rescue on both occasions, denying them a goal. In the 55th minute, Mikael Ishak completed his brace. The Swedish striker ran into the penalty area, collected a pass from Rodriguez and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper before making it 5:0.

Shortly after Lech’s fifth goal, the team from Kielce pulled one back to score a consolation goal. Camilo Mena unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty area to beat Lis. In the final minute of normal time, Yannick Agnero added Lech’s sixth following a spell of patient possession, putting the result beyond doubt.

Next weekend, Lech will travel to Warsaw to face Legia, who are just two points behind the Poznań side in the league table. Before then, however, Frederiksen and his men will look to claim their first points in Europe when they take on English side Sunderland on Thursday.