Sunday's Ekstraklasa competition began with a unique match. Although the match was played at Kałuży Street in Kraków, Cracovia played as guests. This is because the formal host of the match was Puszcza Niepołomice, which has been playing its home games at this very venue since its promotion to Ekstraklasa. Tomasz Tułacz's team wanted to repeat the result from the previous season. Back then, they were better in the two-game series with Cracovia – they drew (1:1) as hosts, and won (1:0) as guests.
Komar's Gift. Cracovia wins with Puszcza
This time, they were entering the league match after a draw away to Piast Gliwice. Cracovia were in even better spirits, having defeated Pogoń Szczecin in a last-second shot a week ago. The decisive goal was scored by stopper Virgil Ghita.
Saturday's match started much better, however, for Puszcza. Already in the sixth minute of the match, Michalis Kosidis got to the ball, which was in front of the penalty area. The Greek was not afraid of Kamil Glik, who was jumping at him, and fired a precise shot from just outside the penalty box. Henrich Ravas was helpless and had to pick the ball out of the net.
However, the “Pasy” did not have to wait long for an answer. At the end of the first quarter, Dawid Kroczek's players took a corner kick. Mick van Buren sent a precise cross into the goal area. Ghita jumped highest – just like a week ago – and beat Kewin Komar. For the Romanian, it was already the third goal this season, and the 11th in the history of his appearances in the Ekstraklasa.
The goal scored had a good effect on Cracovia, who were able to take the initiative on the pitch in parts. Fifteen minutes after Ghita's goal, the Cracovians could have taken the lead. Van Buren rushed into the penalty area, found himself well in a free position, but his anemic shot was easily dealt with by the rivals' goalkeeper.
The second half started similarly to the end of the first. Cracovia still had the ball, but they were unable to threaten Komar. Jakub Serafin had a good long-range shot. However, the ball went past Ravas' goal at a safe distance.
In the 65th minute of the match – also from a distance – Ajdin Hasić tried his luck. His attempt landed on the post, but a few dozen seconds later even the goal frame could not save the hosts. Otar Kakabadze showed off his courageous entry into the penalty area. The right defender of the Georgian national team fired a shot from a very acute angle. The strike was so strong that it broke the arms of Kewin Komar.
Cracovia took the lead, but a few minutes later it became dangerous in their penalty area. However, a good shot into the penalty area did not result in much. Puszcza was unable to equalize, and to make matters worse, they finished the match with ten players. Artur Craciun received a second yellow card, and consequently a red card.
Niepołomice, playing with a smaller team, were unable to change the face of the match. What's more, they could have lost by a larger margin. However, Cracovia's offensive actions lacked the final pass and better decision-making in front of Komar's goal. Ultimately, the result established in the 67th minute of the match did not change. Cracovia added three points and equaled the score with Lech Poznań. Puszcza with eight points is 13th in the table, but may end up in the relegation zone at the end of the round. Such a scenario would require victories by Lechia Gdańsk, Górnik Zabrze and Zagłębie Lubin.
An intense week awaits Puszcza and Cracovia. In addition to the next round of Ekstraklasa, both teams are waiting for their first matches in the Polish Cup. On September 25, the Niepołomice team will play Górnik Łęczna, and three days later they will travel to Częstochowa for a match with Raków. On September 24, Cracovia will travel to an away match with Sandecja Nowy Sącz, and on September 30, at the end of the 10th round, they will play Stal Mielec.
Niepolomice Forest 1:2 Cracovia (1:1)
Goals: Michalis Kosidis'6 – Virgil Ghita'15, Otar Kakabadze'67
Niepolomice Forest: Komar (gk) – Mroziński, Craciun, Yakuba, Siplak (72'Okoniewski) – Serafin (k) (83' Walski), Konrad Stepien – Lee Jin-hyun (83' Sołowiej), Cholewiak (46' Revenco), Dawid Abramowicz – Kosidis (88' Mateusz Stepien)
coach: Tomasz Tułacz
Cracovia: Ravas (gk) – Jugas, Glik, Ghita – Kakabadze (k), Sokołowski, Maigaard, Rózga (69' Rakoczy) – Hasić (83' Al-Ammari), Van Buren (46' Olafsson), Kallman
coach: David Kroczek
- Józef Piłsudski StadiumCracow
- viewers: 4095
- judge: Sebastian Krasny
- yellow cards: Kosidis, Cholewiak, Abramowicz, Craciun, Revenco, Yakuba – Rózga, Kakabadze, Rakoczy, Glik
- red card: Artur Craciun'78 (for two yellows)