Football. Pogoń slept for 45 minutes and... won.

The Port team won against Widzew for the fifth time in a row (they had not lost to Łódź in eight consecutive matches), although for 45 minutes they were the backdrop to their rivals and were losing, but they managed to equalize in the first half's stoppage time, and after the break they were better and, playing with a numerical advantage, they deservedly won, despite the fact that the top scorer from the previous season, Eftchymis Koulouris, was no longer in the Szczecin squad, as he chose to make money and play in the lowest division of the Saudi sheikhs' league (only local regional leagues are lower than the new Greek club).

Ekstraklasa football: WIDZEW Łódź - POGOŃ Szczecin 1:2 (1:1); 1:0 Dion Gallapeni (21), 1:1 Marian Huja (45+1), 1:2 Adrian Przyborek (86).

Widzew: 98. Maciej Kikolski - 91. Marcel Krajewski, 14. Ricardo Visus, 4. Mateusz Żyro, 13. Dion Gallapeni (71, 5. Stélios Andréou) - 77. Ángel Baena (70, 8. Tonio Teklić), 18. Lindon Selahi (87, 20. Antoni Klukowski), 6. Juljan Shehu (70, 55. Szymon Czyż), 57. Samuel Akere (54, 7. Mariusz Fornalczyk) - 10. Fran Álvarez, 99. Sebastian Bergier

Chase: 77. Valentin Cojocaru - 28. Linus Wahlqvist, 22. Danijel Lončar, 2. Marian Huja, 32. Leonárdo Koútris - 7. Musa Juwara, 6. Jan Biegański (89, 19. Mor N'Diaye), 10. Adrian Przyborek, 61. Kacper Smoliński (75, 14. José Pozo), 11. Kamil Grosicki - 18. Paul Mukairu (61, 99. Kacper Kostorz)

Red card: Sebastian Bergier (66th minute, Widzew, for a brutal foul). Yellow cards: Shehu - Koútris, Marian Huja, Juwara. Referee: Łukasz Kuźma (Białystok). Attendance: 17,742.

The Szczecin team started the match in the city of textiles rather sluggishly without the already mentioned Greek striker (Mukairu replaced him out of necessity, although captain Grosicki tried to do it at the very beginning and in a few later parts) and the health problems of Fredrik Ulvestad and Leo Borges, with a completely Polish second-line centre and two defensive midfielders, but after the change of sides they managed to take the initiative and won all the points necessary to leave the relegation zone.

In the fourth minute, Grosicki fired a shot, and it seemed Kikolski had cleared it for a corner, but the referee ordered play to be restarted from the goal. After a quick attack, Bergier found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Cojocaru saved the shot and remained a reliable presence for the rest of the match, making amends for his poor performance from the previous week with numerous effective saves. Ten minutes later, Juwara attempted to lob the local goalkeeper from the halfway line, but he was unfazed. In the 21st minute, after a well-organized move from Widzew, the Szczecin goalkeeper parried a dangerous shot by Gallapeni, but he again gained possession and tried again. After a deflection from one of the Szczecin players, the shot resulted in a goal, giving the hosts a lead they would soon extend several times. Five minutes later, Alvarez's dangerous shot was caught by Cojocaru, who, three minutes later, cleared Sheh's powerful shot for a corner. In the 37th minute, Selahi's shot, blocked by Biegański, bounced off the Szczecin crossbar and post! Four minutes later, Żyro headed a corner just wide. It wasn't until first-half stoppage time that Pogoń mounted its first real threat, when Grosicki played a free kick with Juwara, who crossed to Huja, who headed home the equalizer.

After the break, the Pride of Pomerania was a completely different team, refusing to be overwhelmed by their opponents. In the 49th minute, Grosicki shot into the side netting, and three minutes later, after effective pressure from Szczecin, Przyborek brilliantly passed the ball to Juwara, who scored from a good position (unfortunately, after Szymon Marciniak's intervention on VAR, the referee watched the situation on the monitor and disallowed the goal, somewhat controversially, in our opinion, the porter had fouled Gallapeni before the shot, marking the second disallowed goal of the season for the Gambian, who is still waiting for his first in the top flight). Between these two actions by the Gryf team, the referee showed a red card to Robert Kolendowicz's assistant, Paweł Ozga, for kicking the ball away, delaying Widzew's start. In the 58th minute, Grosicki fired over the crossbar, and five minutes later, Juwara missed a good opportunity. In the 66th minute, former porter Fornalczyk, introduced in the second half (and another former Pogoń player, Klukowski, also came on late in the game), led a brilliant run, delivering a powerful cross across goal, which was followed by a powerful header from Bergier, who kicked Wahlqvist hard in the neck, earning him a red card. In the 74th minute, Juwara's shot was saved, and moments later, Grosicki passed it to Przyborek, who fired a shot over the bar from a good position. Six minutes later, Fornalczyk shot from a clear-cut position, but Loncar parried the ball, but there wasn't even a corner kick. In the 86th minute, Grosicki's effort found Przyborek, who fired a powerful shot from 20 meters wide of the post to give Pogoń the win. At the start of the nine minutes of added time, Teklić, after correcting a free kick, sent the ball just wide of the post, giving Łódź their only chance to equalize. ©℗

(mij)