007 – this symbol is mainly associated with Agent 007, or James Bond. On Sunday evening in Bialystok the Polish champion wanted to do everything to keep it that way for the September break for the national team. After six defeats in a row in all competitions, Jagiellonia Białystok hosted Widzew Łódź, who have been solid this season, and could not imagine any other scenario than breaking through at the end of the July-August marathon, in which they played 12 matches in 44 days.
A goal in the second minute gave a breakthrough to Jagiellonia Białystok. The Polish champion defeated Widzew
This match could not have started better for Adrian Siemienic's team. It took only 65 seconds for “Jaga” to celebrate their first goal. Miki Villar escaped the rivals on the right wing and laid the ball out to Afimico Pululu, who was standing in front of the goal and confidently beat Rafał Gikiewicz from close range to open the scoring.
Jagiellonia, recently crushed by Ajax Amsterdam, did not charge in the following minutes. It can be said that, for their style, they played very cautiously. Another chance after a set piece was given to Mateusz Skrzypczak, who headed a close-range shot that was dirty and very inaccurate.
Widzew had to wait until the 26th minute for a dangerous action. It ended with a flat and precise shot from distance by Samuel Kozlovsky, which could have ended in an equalizer if not for a very good intervention by Maksymilian Stryjek. Widzew had another corner kick, after which Imad Rondić was equally close to scoring a goal for 1:1, but from about five meters he headed over the crossbar.
Before the break, Stryjek, who was making his Ekstraklasa debut at the age of 28, had to save the ball after a dangerous cross shot by Jakub Sypek. Jaga responded with a dangerous move on the left wing by Joao Moutinho, who after passing Marcel Krajewski was able to pass the ball accurately to Afimico Pululu, but the Frenchman was blocked.
The first half of the match ended horribly for Widzew, however, as Fran Alvarez lost his train of thought in the 44th minute. The Spaniard, who had already received a yellow card a dozen or so minutes earlier, blocked a quick free kick by his opponent, which cost him a senseless second yellow and red card.
Despite playing with an advantage, Jagiellonia did not increase the pace from the beginning of the second half. They continued to play precisely, taking advantage of the fact that their opponents were unable to apply proper pressing when weakened. Despite this, the Polish champions managed to get into scoring situations, although it was difficult to talk about one hundred percent chances. Afimico Pululu was blocked twice in Widzew's penalty area, and a shot from a dozen or so meters by Miki Villar was effectively blocked by Rafał Gikiewicz.
Widzew's goalkeeper also made a great sacrifice, stopping Darko Churlinov, who was one-on-one with him, in front of the penalty area. Gikiewicz headed the ball at knee height and then hit the running opponent. His nose suffered a lot, but the experienced goalkeeper was able to continue playing.
In the 60th minute, there was a big controversy in the Widzew penalty area. After a move on the right side by Miki Villar, Darko Czurlinov was blocked in front of Gikiewicz's goal. The ball first bounced off the leg and then off the upraised hand of Marek Hanousek. Referee Tomasz Kwiatkowski initially awarded a penalty to the hosts, but after VAR intervention, he did not need many replays to change his decision.
Widzew looked for their few chances to equalize, including through set pieces. In the 68th minute football players Daniel Myśliwiec were close to success when Imad Rondić headed the free kick really dangerously, but Maksymilian Stryjek did well.
Ten minutes later it should have been 2-0 for the Polish champions. After receiving and passing from Nene Jesus Imaz failed to beat Rafał Gikiewicz from a tight angle, and Kristoffer Hansen's close-range finish only hit the visitors' goalpost.
Despite playing with an advantage, Jagiellonia began to lose its way in the last quarter of an hour. A long-range shot by Antoni Klimek was blocked by Maksymilian Stryjek, and after several set pieces, the game boiled over in the Białystok penalty area, but in the end the result of this match did not change.
Jagiellonia Białystok defeated Widzew Łódź 1-0 in a not very convincing but deserved style and went into the international break with 12 points from six matches. The team from Białystok jumped to sixth place in the table, and they still have one match to play (with Lublin by motor away). Widzew has one point less and is in eighth place.