Due to the low class of the opponent, Niels Frederiksen fielded practically a reserve team from the first minute of the match, which should have easily defeated the team from Gibraltar anyway. That’s why Mikael Ishak was absent from the first minute as “Kolejorz’s” forward, and Palma, Pereira and Milić also started the match on the bench.
The outsider stood up to the Polish strongman
There’s no use in magic. If anyone was counting on an impressive victory in the Lech match, after the first half they must have been very disappointed with the attitude of the players in blue uniforms. They played apathetically, even standing, as if they thought the match would win itself.
Meanwhile, the Lincoln players played really well and in the 13th minute one of their shots landed on the crossbar. But that wasn’t the end. At one point, Mrozek drove himself to the very corner of the penalty area. He threw the ball blindly into the middle of the pitch, straight at the hosts’ feet. Then the ball hit Lech’s sixteen again, where Ouma grabbed it for De Barr. The referee did not find a foul there, which was quite controversial.
However, the Red Imps players did not even have time to consider this situation. A moment later, the unattacked Garcia had time to send a good cross into the sixteen. There, Lopes knocked the ball down and Kike Gomez got it, giving his team the lead!
Ishak didn’t save “Kolejorz”
At the beginning of the second half, Lech’s coach made three changes to the lineup. Pereira replaced Gumengo, Ishmael replaced Angero and Luis Palma replaced Bengtsson. Especially after the last one mentioned, it could be expected that it would revive the favorites’ game.
And yet, although they clearly had the upper hand, after seven minutes the hosts won a free kick. Afterwards, they put the ball in the net again thanks to Boubacar Dabo! Fortunately for “Kolejorz”, it turned out that he was in too much of a hurry to reach the thrown ball and was caught offside.
Then the guests dictated the course of the game, but what good is it if the rivals’ goal was like magic? First, Fiabema’s shot landed on the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Ismaheel’s shot from close range was deflected off the post.
In the 57th minute, Frederiksen decided to reach for the ultimate weapon, Mikael Ishak. And well, we can shower you with more Lech statistics, such as xG, ball possession, number of shots, and passes exchanged. All this spoke in favor of “Kolejorz”. But the most important thing, the statistics of goals scored, did not want to change.
It was only in the 77th minute that Jaylan Hankins helped Lechia. The hosts’ goalkeeper intervened very hesitantly from the beginning, especially when punching. After one of these actions, instead of hitting the ball, he hit Pablo Rodriguez’s head. As a result, he received a yellow card and Lech – eleven. Ishak approached the team and leveled the score with a light shot on the ground.
Kolejorz was not satisfied with the draw. And it can be said with gallows humor that they didn’t pull it off. Although the guests were leading the game, another cross surprised their defense. Toni Kolega sent the ball into the penalty area, and Christian Rutjens hit his head so that the shot was overshot by Mrozek! In the 89th minute, the sensation became a fact.
The result did not change and thus Lech Poznań wrote one of the darkest pages in the history of Polish clubs’ performances in Europe. He lost to the champion of Gibraltar.
Lincoln Red Imps 2:1 Lech Poznań
Goals: 1:0 Gomez (33′), 1:1 Ishak (78′), 2:1 Rutjens (89′)
