Gryf Słupsk - Lech Poznań 1:2

Lech players have recently hit a bit of a rough patch - Niels Frederiksen’s squad suffered an unexpected 2:1 defeat in the Europa Conference League against Lincoln Red Imps and only a few days later drew 0:0 in the prestigious Ekstraklasa clash with Legia Warsaw. It was, however, a dull encounter, with both sides struggling to create any clear goal-scoring chances.

Gryf Słupsk had eliminated first-division side Polonia Warsaw in the previous round of the competition; hence, Niels Frederiksen did not underestimate his opponents, and he sent in a strong starting lineup. Despite the poor pitch conditions, the difference in quality was evident from the referee’s first whistle. The visitors played with great intensity and completely dominated their opponents. It seemed that Lech had effectively settled the match after half an hour – within the opening 30 minutes, Filip Jagiełło finished off a fine team attempt, and then Joel Pereira pounced on a rebound from Mikael Ishak’s saved shot to make it 2:0. Towards the end of the first half, the hosts had a golden opportunity to score, but Bartosz Mrozek saved his team from conceding a goal.

The early stages of the second half did not suggest any problems for the top-tier squad. Substitute Yannick Agnero had a chance to score his first goal in the blue-and-white shirt, but lacked the finishing touch. Missed opportunities soon came back to haunt Lech, as Damian Wojda completed a fine solo effort to pull one back for Gryf. In the following minutes, Lech continued to dominate, but the ball simply wouldn’t find its way into the hosts’ net, despite further chances for Agnero and Gisli Thordarson.

Late in the game, Gryf thought they had equalised after an own goal by Mateusz Skrzypczak, but the goal was disallowed due to Daniel Piechowski being offside. In added time, Thordarson found the net, but the assistant referee raised his flag once again. Lech Poznań ultimately held onto the 2:1 score and booked their place in the next round of the STS Polish Cup.