Image via UEFA
There was a strong showing for Polish teams in the Conference League Qualifying last night with Lech Poznań, Pogoń Szczecin, Lechia Gdansk and Raków Częstochowa the teams in action.
Lech Poznań 5-0 Dinamo Batumi
It was a great night at Bulgarska as Lech demolished their Georgian opponents in 36°C heat. Michał Skóraś opened the scoring with a belting strike from 30 yards, before João Amaral doubled the home side’s lead with a decent strike, although a better goalkeeper probably would’ve stopped it. Skóraś doubled the lead (technically) in the 33rd minute, as he attempted to pull the shot across to the far post, the ball took a wicked deflection off a defender and looped over an already rushing goalkeeper at his near post. Amaral grabbed his second with a tidy finish in the 65th minute, after an exquisite pass by Kristoffer Velde. Mikael Ishak had a goal ruled out for a very tight offside, before he finally got his goal in stoppage time as he rounded off a nice counter attack.
It was nice to see Lech secure such a resounding victory after a difficult July has seen them exit Champions League qualifying in devastating fashion as well as start their Ekstraklasa season as defending champions with a loss. Last night, they finally looked like a team clicking into gear under new manager John van den Brom.
Pogoń Szczecin 1-1 Brondby IF
Pogoń managed to rescue a draw against Danish side Brondby. The visitors were by far the team with the more opportunities, particularly in the first half, as they had their back against the wall before succumbing to a volley from Blas Riveros, after it deflected off a defender. Pogoń managed to fight back a bit in the second half, and with five minutes to go, some nice play down the left-hand side resulted in Kamil Grosicki flicking the ball into the path of Luka Zahović, who calmly dribbled past one defender before slotting the ball into the far corner. It was a lovely goal, and probably a deserved one based on the second half performance.
Pogoń have declined to postpone this weekend’s Ekstraklasa tie, something the other teams participating have done to ensure fitness for their second legs. Whether this comes back to haunt Pogoń will be revealed next week.
SK Rapid Wien 0-0 Lechia Gdańsk
Lechia managed to earn themselves a respectable goalless draw in Austria. Despite both teams having more than enough chances to score, the tie remained without a goal. Against a stronger opponent, Lechia cannot be disappointed, especially as they have the chance to go through with a win next week in front of their own fans at Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk.
Raków Częstochowa 5-0 Astana
Another big win occurred last night in Częstochowa as Raków put five past the Kazakh side. Ivi Lopez began the scoring in the first five minutes with a strike from distance that went straight through the goalkeeper, quite what he was doing is anyone’s guess. Deian Sorescu made a strange decision to dive in to a tackle and get himself sent off after 20 minutes, but it didn’t slow the home side down. Mateusz Wdowiak chipped the ball over the ‘keeper from a tight angle to make it two before the action really ramped up in the second half. A late challenge saw Astana reduced to ten men also, and from this point Raków set out to take the game away from the visitors entirely. Some quick feet from Ivi in the box enabled him to loft the ball to Vladislavs Gutkovskis to thunder home a volley from close range with 65 minutes on the clock. Ten minutes later, Ivi was at it again as the Spaniard (who recently signed a new contract keeping him in Częstochowa until 2026) lobbed a through ball to Vladyslav Kocherhin, who took a touch before finishing well. Fran Tudor scored a 94th minute penalty to end the scoring.
This bodes well for Raków, who performed respectably in qualifying for this same competition last season. They will be hoping to reach the group stage as they continue their rise, as they are definitely a team on the up, and have been for a while now.
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