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Lech got their first win in the group stage of the Europa Conference League last night, beating visiting side Austria Vienna 4-1 at Bulgarska. Goals from Mikael Ishak, Michał Skóraś and Kristoffer Velde were the scorers for the home side.
It was Ishak to score first after a lovely through ball by Joao Amaral left him one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and the Lech captain slotted the ball calmly into the net. Unfortunately, Austria Vienna then equalised straight away, before a mistake from Lech left-back Pedro Rebocho led to him giving away a penalty, which was saved by Filip Bednarek. Lech were probably glad to get to half-time, as they became far more erratic after conceding the equaliser and the penalty.
The classic cliche “a game of two halves” could not have been more appropriate, as the Lech performance in the second 45 minutes was far better than it had been in the first half. They looked more assured on the ball for the most part, and this was particularly true of the second goal, a delightful cross floated in by Joel Pereira which Skóraś was able to side-foot, on the volley, into the corner of the goal. A neat turn and finish saw Velde with his first, before grabbing his second in the last minute with a drive from just inside the box.
It was a second half performance that was really encouraging, and teamed with the display in Spain last week, leaves me with the opinion that Lech have a real chance of getting out of this group, which isn't something I was expecting when the draw was made. Of course, this relies on Ishak and Skóraś keeping up their current form, and if Velde can continue to provide goals like the ones he scored last night, we really might see Lech getting into the knockout rounds.
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