In the first qualifying round of the League of European Conferences, the Wrocław-led by Jacek Magiera Śląsk Wrocław defeated Paide Linnameeskond twice (4: 1 on aggregate) and was promoted to the next round. Quite unexpectedly, Ararat Yerevan became an opponent of the inhabitants of Wrocław. Armenians unexpectedly eliminated the favored team from Hungary – MOL Fehervar, whose colors are played by the recent Euro 2020 participants: Fiola, Nikolić and Nego.
For the first match of this rivalry, the fourth team of the previous season of PKO Ekstraklasa had to go on a long journey to Gyumri, where Ararat plays in European cups. They play there because their home venue does not meet UEFA’s licensing requirements. It certainly wasn’t going to be an easy and pleasant start.
The coach of Silesia bet on the following players. In the goal we saw Szromnik, in defense of Stiglec, Golla, Lewkot and Janasik, while Garcia, Makowski, Mączyński and Pich played in the midfield, while Piasecki and Exposito played in the attack.
It was not the best first half in the history of Polish teams playing in European cups. The pace of the game was quite slow, at times nothing happened. The players from Wrocław made a few mistakes which, fortunately for them, were not used by the Armenian team. Besides, the players of both teams played quite chaotically. Jacek Magiera’s players managed to carry out only two effective actions in this part of the match. However, they scored a goal after a set part of the game.
In the 20 th minute, Mączyński came to the corner of the pitch, who once again proved that his foot was very well placed. He precisely crossed for the fifth meter, right on the head of Golla, who was running into the penalty area. The central defender took his team into the lead with a certain head blow, which a moment earlier was close to conceding a goal, but the Ararat player slightly missed the post.
While the first half was just bad, the second half was much better. Especially the first five minutes where more happened than in the previous three quarters of an hour of the game. It all started with dangerous and fierce attacks from the hosts, which took effect quite quickly. In the 48th minute Malakjan centered exactly from the corner, from exactly the same side as Mączyński, and just like the Pole he did it equally effectively. On the farther post there was an unattended Bravo, who directed the ball to the goal of the Wrocław players.
It is worth noting that Szromnik made a mistake. The goalkeeper of the fourth team last season passed the so-called empty passage, missed the ball he tried to kick, but missed it. This situation did not break the charges of Jacek Magiera. They reacted very quickly to what happened, because after only a few dozen seconds they took the lead again. The goal, after Exposito’s cross, was scored by Piasecki, for whom it was the second hit in these eliminations.
With time, Śląsk Wrocław took control of this meeting. Although the hosts had their own opportunities to score more goals. However, they were not as effective as the players from Wrocław. In the 70th minute Pich broke through the center of the field, with a lot of luck he passed several players from Ararat and hit the net. When it seemed that the match would end with the result 3: 1, Jacek Magiera’s players gave up the field to their rivals. They just stopped playing football and they conceded a goal as a result.
Fortunately, however, they reacted well to the situation again and responded as best as possible. Robert Pich, who was one of the heroes of this duel, recorded his second hit.
The potential rival of Śląsk Wrocław in the third round of the qualifying round of the League of European Conferences will be the winner of the PFK match Arda Kyrdżali – Hapoel Beer Sheva.
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