In the stands of the stadium in Letnica, Lechia fans hung a black sector sign in the shape of a T-shirt with the names of those who died in the accident: Eliza, Tomek, Nikodem, Mikołaj
photo: Roman Daszczyński / www.gdansk.pl
They commemorated four deceased children
On Friday, October 18, in the evening, Lechia played at home against Legia Warszawa. She lost 0:2. A tragedy has happened a little later. On the S7 expresswaythere was a collision in Borkowo, near Gdańsk. With tragic consequences. Four children diedseveral injured people were taken to hospital.
Night crash near Gdańsk. Four children returning from the match died
On Sunday, November 3, just before the start of the match between Lechia and Cracovia a minute of silence was observed in memory four children who died in that collision. Lechia’s reserve players lit candles in memory of the deceased, and a black section in the shape of a T-shirt with their names was displayed in the stands: Eliza, Tomek, Nikodem, Mikołaj.
The entire stadium – a total of 10,771 people – behaved wonderfully during these moments. It is also worth praising about 1,700 Cracovia fans who, supported by the fans of Arka Gdynia and Lech Poznań, sat at the Polsat Plus Arena Gdańsk. At the command of their sector leader, they took off their hats, then – like everyone else in the stands – turned on their phone flashlights. At the end, they applauded with others.
Lechia’s players wore black armbands as a sign of mourning.
It’s good to travel by train
In Lechia, compared to the previous match against Piast in Gliwice, there were three changes in the starting lineup. They entered the game Bohdan Sarnawski, Tomasz Wójtowicz and Tomasz Neugebauer. Goalkeeper Szymon Weirauch fell ill, Camilo Mena was injured in the match against Piast, and Anton Carenko was left on the bench.
The Cracovia team arrived in Gdańsk by train, which is a rare practice in professional football.
– It’s comfortable on the train. Well, we only drove for five hours and a bus took us from the station in Gdańsk to the stadium – said Dawid Kroczek, “Pasy” coach.
Tomasz Neugebauer touched the ball with his hand in the Lechia penalty area in the 2nd minute, which gave the guests from Krakow a penalty kick
photo: Krzysztof Mystkowski / KFP
The weakest defense versus the best offense
It was known before the match Lechia has the weakest defense in the top league – 26 goals conceded. Cracovia is the most effective in the league – 28 goals scored. This was also the main pre-match message.
Less than 120 seconds had passed and the action was already being carried out by guests from Krakow. The ball is in his own penalty area Tomasz Neugebauer touched his handreferee Patryk Gryckiewicz had no doubts: penalty for Cracovia.
Benjamin Källman came into the starting eleven. He defeated Sarnawski without any problems. From the 4th minute Lechia was losing 0:1.
In the previous round, Cracovia scored six goals against Motor Lublin. It’s scary to think what else could happen to Lechia – it went through the heads of some Gdańsk fans.
Two yellows make one red
Great in the 25th minute Maksym Chłań charged from the left side, passed one of the rivals, shot from about 10 meters. But Cracovia’s goalkeeper Henrich Ravas did even better, clearing the ball flying on the ground for a corner kick. Then he shot from a distance Conrad. Missed.
For a Brazilian the match ended badly and very quicklybecause already in the 35th minute. Then he fouled and received his second yellow card in the match. He received the first one in the 17th minute. Two yellows make one red. Conrado didn’t even protest much, he left the field with his head hung low.
Källman po raz drugi
Coach Szymon Grabowski reacted to the situation almost immediately and introduced left defender Miłosz Kałahur onto the pitch (he replaced Neugebauer). It didn’t help much, because his colleagues from the center of defense fell asleep a bit just before the break.
In the 44th minute, Ajdin Hasić made a great pass forward to Källman, who ran between Andrei Chindris and Elias Olsson. The Finn was already approaching the goal with the ball at his feet, Sarnawski approached him and fell to his knees at the right post, trying to stop the Cracovia striker, but Källman shot lightly and precisely between the body and the left hand of the Ukrainian goalkeeper of Lechia. 0:2.
Good defense by Sarnawski
Statistically, Lechia looked good in the first half: 7-6 shots on goal (worse 1-3 shots on goal), over 50 percent ball possession. But statistics are just statistics.
In the 57th minute, Bohdan Wjunnyk tried on the left side. Next to the goal.
A few moments earlier Sarnawski stopped Källman shooting at point blank range and then he defended well Jani Atanasov’s shot. Even later blocked twice from a sharp angle by Otar Kakabadze.
Red card canceled
In the 59th minute Ivan Żelizko made a great pass forward to Vyunnyk, who had a chance to go one-on-one with the visiting goalkeeper. However, he was stopped by Patryk Sokołowski.
The referee showed the Cracovia player a red card. However, the VAR analysis took quite a long time and referee Gryckiewicz was finally asked to the monitor. He canceled the red card because it turned out that Wjunnyk had fouled both players earlier in the clash.
Lechia’s trials, there is hope
Lechia was losing 0:2, but coach Grabowski did not throw in the towel as a sign of surrender and his charges did not stand helpless. They tried to change the result of the match. It finally worked. Commitment and character were rewarded.
Rifet Kapić he took a corner kick in the 77th minute. He played to the seventh meter and ran there in the middle of the penalty area Bujar Pllana. He shot on target. 1:2.
Lechia pushed, but lost
In the 85th minute Kapić’s hit Ravas saved from a distance.
Lechiathe penultimate team in the table, having one less player on the pitch for several long minutes did not let Cracovia out of their own half. Unbelievable!
Iron from a free kick, Ravas to a corner kick.
Finally, the guests came out of the “castle”. Sarnawski saved Kakabadze’s shot
The referee added six minutes.
Good move by Lechia, but Kacper Sezonienko received the ball badly. Żelizko stopped Cracovia’s counterattack with a slide tackle.
Post-match statistics:
- Shots: Lechia 13 – Cracovia 15
- Shots on target: Lechia 4 – Cracovia 8
- Ball possession: Lechia 56%. – Cracovia 44 percent
The White-Greens remain penultimate in the table with 10 points. If on Monday, November 4, Śląsk Wrocław draws away with Zagłębie Lublin, the team from Gdańsk will fall to the bottom of the top league table.
Lechia Gdańsk – Cracovia 1:2 (0:2)
Goals:
0:1 – Benjamin Kallman 4′ (d.)
0:2 – Benjamin Kallman 44′
1:2 – Bujar Pllana 77′
Yellow cards: Conrado, Želizko, Chindris, Pllana, Wjunnyk (Lechia), Sokolowski, Ravas (Cracovia)
Red cards: Conrado (Lechia) for the second yellow
Lechia: Bohdan Sarnawski – Dominik Piła, Andrei Chindris (72′ Bujar Pllana), Elias Olsson, Conrado – Iwan Żelizko – Tomasz Wójtowicz (72′ Kacper Sezonienko), Tomasz Neugebauer (42′ Miłosz Kałahur), Rifet Kapić, Maksym Chłań (88′ Anton Tsarenko) – Bohdan Wjunnyk
Krakow: Henrich Ravas – Virgil Ghita (9′ Jani Atanasov, 81′ Amir Al-Ammari), Arttu Hoskonen, Andreas Skovgaard – Otar Kakabadze, Patryk Sokołowski, Mikkel Maigaard, David Kristjan Olafsson – Filip Rózga (72′ Mateusz Bochniak), Benjamin Kallman , Ajdin Hasic (81′ Bartosz Biedrycki)
