After an incredibly exciting evening at R22, Wisła Kraków defeated Spartak Trnava in a penalty shootout and registered for the next round of the UEFA Conference League! After 120 minutes, the score was 3:1, with goals scored by Angel Rodado, Piotr Starzyński and Alan Uryga.
The Wisła team took to the pitch with an offensive mindset, as evidenced by the yellow card for the Slovak defender Erik Sabo in the first minute. Carried by the cheering of the stands, the White Star players flanked Spartak’s penalty area, even hitting the visitors’ net at one point. Rodado passed the ball to Kiss, who placed it between the posts. However, the referee saw an offside in the build-up phase of the attack and canceled the Hungarian’s goal.
After the first quarter of an hour, the events on the pitch were still being dictated by Wisła players. The driving force in our team’s play was undoubtedly Olivier Sukiennicki, often taking on the burden of the game and effectively keeping the ball. The players from Trnava could not cope with the high pressing set by Kazimierz Moskal’s team and very quickly lost possession. It can be said that the siege of Frelih’s goal was ongoing.
For a long time, however, it did not bring any benefits in the form of goals, until the situation in the 42nd minute. Philip Azango lost the ball in a dangerous zone and, trying to correct his mistake, committed a foul within the penalty area. The referee of today’s competition indicated the penalty area, and the reliable Angel Rodado took the shot. The Spaniard gave the Krakow team the lead with a confident shot from eleven meters and only one goal separated us from equalizing the score of the entire two-legged match! The first half ended soon and after the break we were facing another 45 minutes of fighting for further participation in the UEFA Conference League.
Don’t stop believing
After the break, Wisła Kraków did not give up and confidently continued their pursuit of an unfavourable result from the away game. Today’s performance of the guests for most of the time came down to kicking balls out, and the burden of the game practically did not leave the half of the pitch occupied by Michal Gasparik’s team.
For an hour now we have been able to watch incredibly exciting struggles at R22. It was in the 60th minute that Marc Carbó made a long pass from the center of the field, and Piotr Starzyński was supposed to be its recipient. The last of Spartak’s defenders miscalculated the ball’s flight path, and it went to our youth player. Starzyński, completely unmarked, threw the ball over the outgoing goalkeeper and increased the score to 2:0! At this point, the team from Wawel had already won extra time, and there was no indication that the hosts would take their foot off the gas.
The situations in front of Spartak Trnava’s goal were multiplying, and the players in white seemed to be thinking only about the whistle for another break. The entire attack line of Krakow’s Wisła came into today’s match in great form, frightening the guests more and more with each subsequent possession. After the end of the regular time, the Scottish referee added an additional 6 minutes, giving Wisła another chance to end the match before extra time. However, the deep defense of the Slovaks did not allow this and we were in for an additional half an hour of football at its best.
European play-off
The clock on the big screen started to count down to the 120th minute, and Spartak did not want to lock themselves in their penalty area again. The visiting coach used his hand gesture to push his players forward, which was once again prevented by the incredible Wisła players today. In the 98th minute, the Cracovians took a corner kick and the cross from it went perfectly to the head of Alan Uryga. The captain got ahead of Zig Frelih and, to the delight of the stands, scored a goal for 3:0! This was also the result of the first part of extra time and fifteen minutes before the end, the White Star had one foot in the next stage of the UEFA competition.
No one who came to the stadium at Reymonta that evening certainly did not regret their decision. Unfortunately, however, it was the guests from Trnava who presented themselves as the attacking side after the last half-time change and quickly came back alive, scoring a goal for 3:1. Thanks to Michal Duriś’s conscious behavior, the result of the entire two-game match indicated 4:4 from the 107th minute and if nothing changes, we will have a series of penalties. We witnessed incredibly dramatic scenes – Mikulec did not use a one-on-one situation, and the goal of Baena, who was brought on before extra time, was disallowed due to handball during the reception. There will be penalties!
Historic penalty shootouts
What happened in the penalty shootout series defies any description. After 14 penalty shootouts, Wisła Kraków finally tipped the scales of victory in their favor and found themselves in the fourth phase of the UEFA Conference League qualifiers! It is already certain that this evening will forever be written in the history of our club, and memories of it will be passed down for years. Faith and tenacity won today, and in a week we will have another European spectacle – this time in a clash with the Belgian Cercle Brugge!
Wisla Krakow – FC Spartak Trnava 3:1 (1:0, 2:0), penalties 12:11
- 1-0 Rodado 42′ (penalty)
- 2:0 Starzynski 60′
- 3:0 Uryga 98′
- 3:1 Duris 107′
Meat: 1:0 Uryga, 1:0 Duris – defended, 1:0 Biedrzycki – defended, 1:1 Paur, 1:1 Jaroch – post, 1:2 Kratochvil, 2:2 Rodado, 2:3 Kosa, 3:3 Carbo, 3:3 Bainović – crossbar, 4:3 Mikulec, 4:4 Kubista, 5:4 Duarte, 5:5 Corryn, 6:5 Gogół, 6:6 Ahl, 7:6 Baena, 7:7 Holik, 8:7 Kutwa, 8:8 Azango, 9:8 Broda, 9:9 Frelih, 10:9 Uryga, 10:10 Paur, 11:10 Biedrzycki, 11:11 Kratochvil, 12:11 Jaroch, 12:11 Kosa – defended.
Wisla Krakow: Broda – Jaroch, Uryga, Biedrzycki, Kiakos (74′ Mikulec) – Carbó, Sukiennicki (60′ Gogół) – Starzyński (116′ Kutwa), Rodado, Kiss (60′ Duarte) – Zwoliński (90+1′ Baena)
FC Spartak Trnava: Frelih – Sabo (98′ Paur), Ujlaky (46′ Kratochvil), Kosa, Miković (90+1′ Bainović) – Holik, Zelijković (116′ Corryn), Prochazka (Kubista), Pich (46′ Ahl)- Azango, Duris
Yellow cards: Kiakos, Carbó, Jaroch – Sabo, Duriś, Kubista, Frelih
Judged by: D. Robertson (Scotland)
Attendance: 15 099
