Football. Pogoń deservedly lost, Thomasberg ended a beautiful streak

In Monday's match of the 14th round of the Ekstraklasa football league, Wisła, led by Szczecin coach Mariusz Misiura, deservedly won at home in Płock against the Porters, who seemed to be feeling the victorious 120-minute-long cup battle from just a few days ago against Legia in Warsaw (and weakened by the absence of Linus Wahlqvist, suspended due to suspensions, and Sam Greenwood, injured in the capital, which the Szczecin club traditionally did not inform about in pre-match announcements). Recently, the manager of the navy blue and burgundy (this time wearing rather tasteless black shirts, although perhaps appropriate for the gloomy November), the Danish coach Thomas Thomasberg, unfortunately broke his beautiful streak of 22 matches without a defeat.

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Football Premier League: Wisła Płock - Pogoń Szczecin 2:0 (1:0); 1:0 Leonardo Koutris (22 own goal), 2:0 Dani Pacheco (56).

Wisła: Rafał Leszczyński - Zan Rogelj, Marcus Haglind-Sangre, Marcin Kamiński, Andrias Edmundsson, Quentin Lecoeuche (87 Bojan Nastić) - Dominik Kun, Tomas Tavares (55 Dani Pacheco), Wiktor Nowak (70 Nemanja Mijusković) - Deni Jurić (70 Iban Salvador), Łukasz Sekulski (70 Giannis Niarchos)

Chase: Valentin Cojocaru - Hussein Ali (46 Jakub Lis), Dimitris Keramitsis, Marian Huja, Leonardo Koutris (46 Leo Borges) - Musa Juwara (46 Kacper Smoliński), Fredrik Ulvestad (76 Paul Mukairu), Mor N'Diaye (76 Jan Biegański), Adrian Przyborek - Rajmund Molnar, Kamil Grosicki

Yellow cards: Tavares - Juwara. Referee: Paweł Malec (Łódź).

There were 8,371 spectators, including a large group of Szczecin scarf-wearers who at times shouted over the local fans.

Szczecin started the match well, controlling the match for twenty minutes, but this resulted only in the post and crossbar being hit. Later, after some disastrous errors by Greek Koutris (he's had a drastic decline in form in recent months, or perhaps the departure of his compatriot Koulouris from Gryf contributed to this...), Wisła took the lead and could have even extended it, gaining a significant lead. However, they didn't score their second goal until after the break, after which they retreated to a deep defense, aiming to maintain their advantage and secure second-place finishes. After three substitutions at halftime and two in the final quarter, the Port team gained a significant advantage for long stretches of the second half, occasionally trapping the hosts in their penalty area, but they failed to score even a consolation goal.

The match started with a rough play by the locals and a foul off the ball in the 1st minute by Lecoeuche on Juwara (we think that the Gambian was not simulating then, as he did in the stoppage time of the first half, when he pretended to be injured in the middle of the pitch, for which he rightly received a yellow card and for this reason he will not play on Sunday at 17.30 at Twardowskiego against Jagiellonia Białystok), and a little later Tavares hit N'Diaye with a shoulder pad, for which he only received a yellow card.

In the 11th minute, a shot from the rather active Przyborek was saved by Leszczyński, and four minutes later, Grosicki's long shot, after a deflection, resulted in a corner, taken by our captain. The ball then hit the near post and then returned to the striker (if it hadn't cleared a Wisła player, it should have been an indirect free kick against Pogoń for Grosik's double touch). The Szczecin captain improved with a cross, and the goalkeeper, despite being fouled, cleared the ball. In the 20th minute, the stands chanted "100 lat!" in honor of Sekulski, who had just celebrated his 35th birthday. Molnar also gave him a gift, as he only hit the crossbar after a tackle with Juwara. Moments later, Koutris made a fatal error, first mishandling the ball and it fell to Rogelj, who the Greek failed to block. The Wisła player's shot from around 30 yards out from just outside the penalty area deflected off the unlucky Greek defender, then lobbed the goalkeeper and into the net at the far post. Wisła took the lead with their first offensive move, then seized the initiative with frontal attacks; shots from Nowak and Tavares were blocked, Jurić shot from close range practically across the face of goal, and Sekulski fired over the crossbar. After less than fifteen minutes in their own half, Pogoń responded with two moves: after Przyborek's pass, Molnar headed too lightly, and Grosicki's shot flew slightly too high. In the 40th minute, the former Pogoń Kun player headed over the crossbar, and moments later, Sekulski's shot from just a few meters out was brilliantly cleared by Keramitsis from an empty net. In first-half stoppage time in the 47th minute, after a pass from Juwara, Ulvestad, instead of heading the ball at goal in a favorable position, played the ball back to Grosicki, whose shot was saved. A minute later, Rogelj's shot went into the near corner, which Cojocaru with great difficulty cleared for a corner, and moments later, Nowak's shot from outside the penalty area grazed the post.

After the 49th minute change of ends, Ulvestad received the ball and, after a turn, fired a shot from the air, but it hit the center of the net, and Leszczyński saved. Six minutes later, Jurić shot dangerously, but Huja managed to clear the ball out of the net. A minute later, Kun was fouled just outside the penalty area, and Pacheco, who had just been introduced, fired the ball into the top corner, extending the lead. Cojocaru – just like with the first goal – didn't even try to intervene. Trailing by two goals, Pogoń launched an attack, with Grosicki particularly active. In the 59th minute, Przyborek, who was running into the penalty area, was attacked fiercely, but the referee didn't award a penalty. Six minutes later, no one reached Grosicki's promising cross. Smoliński then received a superb pass and played it to Grosicki, but his shot was blocked for a corner. In the 72nd minute, after a dangerous cross into the penalty area, Molnar shot from around six meters, but Leszczyński made a phenomenal save on the goal line. In the final quarter and stoppage time, the Port team sealed their opponents into a proverbial hockey castle, repeatedly executing corner kicks and shooting, but numerous shots from Przyborek, Grosicki, Smoliński, and Biegański were saved, blocked, or narrowly missed. Finally, in the final, 98th minute of added time, Mukairu fired a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, but Leszczyński brilliantly tipped the ball over the crossbar, sealing Wisła's victory.

(mij)

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