The beginning of the season is promising for Widzew Łódź. A 1:1 draw with Stal Mielec, a 2:1 win with Lech Poznań and a 3:1 triumph over Cracovia allowed Daniel Myśliwiec's team to find themselves at the top of the table. What's more, on Sunday they even had a chance to lead the table after four rounds. To do so, they had to win against Śląsk Wrocław. Ultimately, they failed to achieve their goal, despite the fact that the Łódź team created several dangerous actions and played with a reduced team – in the 64th minute Samuel Kozlovsky was sent off after a ruthless attack on Burak Ince. So Widzew only won a point in front of their home crowd.
Rafał Gikiewicz summed up the match with Śląsk. Strong words. “It wasn't some great Śląsk”
The draw did not allow the Łódź team to advance to the position of the leader of the Ekstraklasa. The club currently holds third place, one point behind Jagiellonia Białystok, which has played one match less. This result was very disappointing for the Łódź team players, especially Rafał Gikiewicz. The goalkeeper did not mince his words and after the match spoke harshly about the course of the match.
– Honestly, do you want to bleat this? I don't give a damn about this point. I wanted to be a leader. I'm not and I don't feel good about it – the goalkeeper began. Then he assessed what the team's pain point is.
– We lack patience and quality in this third third of the pitch. We have a good team and we have to focus on making the first reception better. (…) Today, even with ten players, if we had played a few balls better, we could have punished them, because today it wasn't some great Śląsk. We have to respect this one point, but it doesn't satisfy me very well. (…) I prefer to win in the Heart of Łódź and sing with the fans, not to rejoice with a clean sheet – Gikiewicz emphasized in front of the cameras.
Widzew's coach shares Gikiewicz's opinion. “We wanted to play for the full prize pool”
The Widzew coach was also disappointed with the result. – We are not happy with the draw. Looking at our desire and the work my players did, we wanted to play for the full prize. The beginning was quite good, later we had problems creating situations. Respect to the opponent, who defended solidly and low, which was of course predictable – he said, quoted by official website of the club.
Now Widzew will face Pogoń Szczecin. The away match is scheduled for Saturday, August 17 at 20:15. It will be difficult to pick a favorite. Jens Gustafsson's team is in fifth place, but is only one point behind the Łódź team. This was made up of two wins, a draw, and a defeat.