18 – that's how many years they waited football players ŁKS Łódź to win against Legia Warszawa. Now the people of Łódź, who were in the first place league they are only in eighth position (they have as many as sixteen points less than the leader Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza) they wanted to cause a sensation and eliminate in 1/8 final one of the candidates for the Polish championship.
ŁKS Łódź faced Legia Warszawa in the Polish Cup. At least in the first half
The players from Łódź, who played with high pressure, started the match much better. After just 240 seconds they were already in the lead. After receiving a cross from a corner kick, defender Łukasz Wiech headed it from five meters, but Gabriel Kobylak made a great save.
The guests couldn't find the right rhythm for a long time, they made mistakes easy mistakes even in your own penalty area when trying to pass the ball. The people of Warsaw were shocked by their inaccuracy and simple losses. For a long time, it was impossible to see the difference that it was a match between a team from the first league and PKO BP Ekstraklasa. ŁKS Łódź made a better impression, its actions could have been more pleasing (like the one in the 40th minute, when Pirulo shot past the post from 14 meters). Legia did not have 100 percent in this part. occasion. Paweł Wszołek and Marc Gual tried, but their shots were too light and goalkeeper Bobek had no problems defending them.
– We were hoping for a thrilling match, with more goals. However, this is not the case. We expected much more from Legia, which is toothless today. ŁKS set very difficult conditions. 0-0 is fair, but ŁKS had more clear situations – said TVP Sport commentators during the break.
Legia Warszawa's awakening in the second half of the match against ŁKS Łódź. Marc Gual show!
Shortly after the break, Chodyna spotted Guala in the penalty area from Łódź, who kicked towards the goal from an acute angle, but did not surprise Bobek. After a while, he was helpless – Vinagre played the ball into the penalty area towards Wszołek, and the ŁKS goalkeeper hit the ball in front of him. The Spanish attacker was waiting there and he scored in the “window” and the guests took the lead.
A few minutes later, Gual shined again and took the ball away from the opponents in their half. Without a second thought, Rafał Augustyniak played to Ryoi Morishita, who passed to the Spaniard, who got to the end line. In this situation, he had limited room for maneuver, but he did something extraordinary and shot into Bobek's goal from an acute angle. At least that's what it seemed – replays showed that he was probably crossing the ball, and he was helped by a ricochet from Kamil Dankowski, who was booked for an own goal.
Antoni Młynarczyk could have responded to these goals, but in an advantageous situation he shot over the goal. And Gual had no mercy and after a great pass by Wojciech Urbański, he ran into the sixteen, “danced” with the ŁKS defender and shot towards the far post to make it 3-0.
From that moment on, the pace of the game dropped significantly and the Łódź team seemed resigned to their fate. In the last minutes, Wszołek and Morishita tried to change the result, but their shots missed Bobek's goal. And at the very end, the fans in the stands fired pyrotechnics and smoke appeared over the pitch, so referee Łukasz Kuźma had to stop the game. Then Ibe-Torti, Iwańczyk and Wysokiński tried to surprise Kobylak, but to no avail.
1/8 final of the Polish Cup: ŁKS Łódź – Legia Warszawa 0:3
- Goals: Marc Gual 49', 62'; Kamil Dankowski 57' (solo)
- ŁKS: Bobek – Dankowski, Gulen, Wiech, Głowacki – Wysokiński, Kupczak, Pirulo (Aleksander Iwańczyk 73') – Sitek (85' Kelechukwu Ibe-Torti), Arasa (Stefan Feiertag 59'), Młynarczyk (Jędrzej Zając 73').
- Legia: Kobylak – Wszołek, Pankov, Barcia, Vinagre (70' Patryk Kun) – Augustyniak – Chodyna (70' Mateusz Szczepaniak), Morishita, Urbański (70' Jurgen Celhaka), Luquinhas (85' Tomas Pekhart) – Gual (76' Migouel Alfarela).
In another Thursday match of the 1/8 finals of the Polish Cup, Jagiellonia Białystok won away against Olimpia Grudziądz 3:1 (3:1). In the quarterfinals, apart from the champions of Poland and Legia Warszawa, there are also: Korona Kielce, Piast Gliwice, Pogoń Szczecin, Puszcza Niepołomice and two first-league players: Polonia Warszawa and Ruch Chorzów. The draw for the quarter-finals will take place on Friday, December 6.