Lech Poznań – Legia Warsaw 2:1

The clashes between Lech and Legia always arouse a lot of emotions among both fans and media, but this time the atmosphere was even more exhilarating because Legia was one point away from winning the Championship. Of course, the team from Poznań didn’t want their biggest rival celebrating on their own pitch, hence the objective was to win and force the squad from the capital to postpone their celebrations. Lech successfully dominated the opening minutes of the match but they had to wait over 15 minutes to create the first goal-scoring opportunity. Zhamaletdinov waited too long before firing a shot and eventually, Ramirez was forced to finish off the offensive attempt, however, unluckily for the Spaniard, the ball flew above the crossbar. A few moments later, the midfielder set Jóźwiak up with a well-timed pass but his teammate’s attempt was also off target.

A couple of minutes later the referee opted for principle of advantage when Zhamaletdinov was fouled just outside the box and allowed Kamiński to convert the chance into a shot at the goal. This time, Muzyk intervened perfectly, stopping the shot with his fingertips. It seemed a matter of time before Lech would score and it fact they did shortly afterwards. Moder converted a corner kick into a very precise cross into the box and Jóźwiak redirected the ball into the net with his… back. The goal only motivated Lech even more and the team from Poznań started pressing on their rival with a higher intensity. Muzyk managed to stop Moder’s strong, technical shot from outside the box but he was forced to take the ball out of the net just a few minutes later when Kamiński beat the keeper with a precise shot from the corner of the penalty area. Towards the end of the first half, the atmosphere heated up and the referee had to show a few cards to keep both sides under control.

Legia seemed to have woken up after the break and started causing problems to Lech’s defensive line. Shortly after the referee resumed the play, the team from the capital created their first good goal-scoring chance. Gwilia’s shot was unfortunately blocked by his teammate, Cholewiak. The latter was very active in the offence but simultaneously imprecise. The hosts had a good opportunity to grab the third goal when Zhamaletdinov came one-on-one with Muzyk, however, Legia’s defenders caught up with the Russian just in time. On the other end of the pitch, van der Hart had to intervene when Rosołek tried surprising the Dutch keeper. In the following offensive attempt, Legia managed to place the ball in the net. Jędrzejczyk won an air clash and although his header stopped on the post, Lewczuk converted the rebound into a goal.

Legia felt that there was a chance to grab a draw which would be enough to win the Championship title a few rounds ahead of the end of the season. Still, Lech defended confidently and Szymczak’s appearance on the pitch added some energy to the offensive line from Poznań. Neither of the teams managed to score again, hence Lech triumphed in the Saturday clash and Legia will have to wait before celebrating the title. In the next match, Lech Poznań is going to face Lechia Gdańsk at home in the semifinals of Polish Cup.

Lech Poznań – Legia Warsaw 2:1 (2:0)

Goals: Kamil Jóźwiak (24.), Jakub Kamiński (29.) – Igor Lewczuk (71.)

Yellow cards: Dani Ramirez, Pedro Tiba – Luquinhas

Lech Poznań: Mickey van der Hart - Bohdan Butko, Lubomir Šatka, Djordje Crnomarković, Tymoteusz Puchacz - Jakub Kamiński (70. Robert Gumny), Pedro Tiba, Jakub Moder, Dani Ramirez (72. Filip Marchwiński), Kamil Jóźwiak - Timur Zhamaletdinov (83. Filip Szymczak)

Legia Warsaw: Wojciech Muzyk - Paweł Stolarski (52. Luis Rocha), Igor Lewczuk, Artur Jędrzejczyk, Michał Karbownik - Paweł Wszołek, Domagoj Antolić, André Martins, Walerian Gwilia, Luquinhas (55. Mateusz Cholewiak) - Tomáš Pekhart (68. Maciej Rosołek)

Attendance: 8167