Odra Opole - Lech Poznań 1:3

Lech got only 27 days to rest and prepare between the end of the previous campaign and the kick-off of the 2020/21 season. For the Polish Cup clash with Odra Opole, Żuraw chose nearly an identical squad to that which beat Jagiellonia in the last match of the last season. However, we did get to see two new faces – Filip Bednarek defended the goal for the first time in an official match and Mikael Ishak got to debut in the offence.

In fact, the debuting Swede came very close to scoring in the first few minutes of the match. He received a cross from Puchacz who was positioned on the left flank and managed to covert the pass into an impressive shot. However, Ishak only hit the post. This offensive attempt foreshadowed a difficult period for the hosts during which the team from Poznań relentlessly pressed on their defensive line. Still, Lech’s offensive attempts didn’t bring the desired effects. Gumny and Moder tried surprising Odra’s goalkeeper but neither of them succeeded. Finally, in the 14^th minute, the guests rejoiced. Lech was awarded a corner kick and its execution caused chaos in Odra’s penalty area. Šatka was in the right place at the right time and used the defenders' confusion to send the ball under the crossbar and into the back of the net.

It could have been 2:0 for Lech just a few moments later but Kamil Jóźwiak’s shot from within the box landed right in the goalkeeper’s hands. In the 24^th minute, the hosts visited their opponent’s penalty area for the first time in that game. Janus tried beating Bednarek with a header, however, his shot was off target. The same player came close to scoring a couple of minutes later but this time his attempt from a free kick stopped on the post.

The second half looked similar to the first 45 minutes – Lech continued dominating on the pitch, causing a lot of problems to Odra’s defensive line and their 17-year-old keeper. However, the team from Poznań lacked precision in their attempts. Shots fired by Lech’s squad – most often by Moder – flew next to Odra’s net. 20 minutes before the final whistle, Filip Marchwiński, who just came in on the pitch, finished off an individual attempt with a strong shot which, unluckily for the young striker, was easily stopped by the keeper.

However, what didn’t work out then, worked out in the following offensive attempt. 15 minutes before the end of the game, chaos aroused in Odra’s penalty area once again, and Šatka used the defenders’ lack of concentration to score a second goal from up close. At first, the referees ruled an offside, however, video replays showed that the goal was correct, hence the decision was reversed. 9 minutes later, Filip Szymczak added a goal of his own. The young striker dribbled around Odra’s defenders and scored a beautiful debut goal right under the crossbar. The hosts replied in the closing minutes of the game with an honorary goal from Sebastian Bonecki and set the final score to 1:3.

Odra Opole - Lech Poznań 1:3 (0:1)

Goals: Bonecki 90 - Šatka 14, 77, Szymczak 87
Yellow cards: Janus - Moder, Marchwiński

Odra: Błażej Sapielak - Jakub Szrek, Piotr Żemło, Mateusz Kamiński, Konrad Matuszewski - Krzysztof Janus (60. Tomas Mikinić), Rafał Niziołek (83. Łukasz Winiarczyk), Miłosz Trojak (83. Jakub Czajkowski), Sebastian Bonecki, Mateusz Gancarczyk (73. Konrad Nowak) - Dawid Czapliński (60. Szymon Skrzypczak)

Lech: Filip Bednarek - Robert Gumny (60. Alan Czerwiński), Lubomír Šatka, Djordje Crnomarković, Tymoteusz Puchacz - Jakub Kamiński (60. Michał Skóraś), Jakub Moder, Pedro Tiba (77. Karlo Muhar), Kamil Jóźwiak - Dani Ramirez (60. Filip Marchwiński) - Mikael Ishak (81. Filip Szymczak)