The away team, led for the first time by Dean Klafurić, came to Kraków without Artur Jędrzejczyk and William Remy. Surprisingly, on the pitch we could have seen one of the weakest players of the last duel between these two teams - Iñaki Astiz. Wisła, in turn, had to deal with the absences of Pol Llonch and Jakub Bartkowski, both suspended due to yellow card accumulation. The situation became even more complicated just after the opening whistle, when Matej Palčič got injured and had to be replaced by Martin Košťál.

Minute after minute, it became more dangerous

Wisła did not wait long to create the first goal-scoring situation. Having received the pass from Zoran Arsenić, Jesús Imaz raced in on goal but Pazdan touched the ball, that after all missed the goal. A controversial situation took place in minute 39 when Niezgoda’s kick was blocked by Marcin Wasilewski and the ball touched his hand. After consultation with the VAR system, the referee did not decide to give penalty.  

That referee’s decision only encouraged the away team to attack in a more aggressive way. Luck was on Wisła’s side when the ball hit the bar after being kicked by Michał Kucharczyk but their attempts were successful a few moments later when Cristian Pasquato, former Juventus player, kicked the ball from outside of the goal area. The goal conceded woke Wisła up and they had a chance to score two goals in extra time.

Invisible advantage

It was Wisła Kraków that opened the second part of the game with attacks. Martin Košťál made an intelligent pass but none of the players managed to touch the ball. However, supporters did not have to wait long for the rival’s answer but this time Julian Cuesta showed his skills. Eight minutes later, Jarosław Niezgoda was sent off for simulation but Wisła also lost one of their players since Martin Kostal got injured. He was replaced for Patryk Małecki and the team changed to 3-4-3 formation.

It did not help and the team that created more chances was Legia. Wisła, playing against 10 men, shot only once and it was Fran Velez that decided to run through the whole pitch and kick from distance. Joan Carrillo’s team lost 0-1 and stays eight in the league.

Wisła Kraków 0-1 Legia Warszawa
0-1 Pasquato 44’ 

Wisła: Cuesta - Palčič (9’ Košťál, 72’ Małecki), Wasilewski, Veléz, Arsenić - Mitrović, Cywka, Brlek - Halilović (66’ Ondrašek), López, Imaz

Legia: Malarz - Vešović, Astiz, Pazdan, Hloušek - Hämäläinen (79’ Broź), Antolić (65’ Rémy), Pasquato (68’ Szymański), Phillips, Kucharczyk - Niezgoda

Yellow cards: Arsenić, Cywka, Veléz - Niezgoda x2, Antolić, Rémy
Red cards: Niezgoda (62’ - za dwie żółte)

Referee: Mariusz Złotek (from Gorzyce) 

Attendance: 23 156

Jakub Pobożniak
Wisła Kraków Press Office