The White Star began the match in very good style. The team was able to maintain possession of the ball for long periods of time, while when the opposing team attacked, they were able to prevent Spartak from successfully carrying out any plays by applying aggressive pressing high up the pitch. The only thing missing from their game was a goal, which could have been scored in the 18th minute. Cleber executed a fine pass to Marek Zieńczuk on the wing, who in turn immediately crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Piotr Ćwielong missed the target from just a few meters in front of the goal. “Pepe” was given another opportunity to score when the ball fell right into his lap following a mistake by one of Spartak’s defenders, but the Wisła forward failed to take advantage of his opponent’s blunder.

Spartak picked up the pace 15 minutes into the match, the result of which was a goal scored following a blitzkrieg counter-attack. Bazhenov outran Marcelo and defeated Vanstrattaten in a one-on-one situation. A few minutes later things could have been worse, as Cantoro received two yellow cards in the space of 180 seconds. The referee, however, allowed Mauro to be substituted by another player. The same situation repeated itself moments later. This time Shishkin was forced to leave the pitch after receiving a red card, but he as well was substituted by another player. Although neither red card had been the result of any particularly brutal fouls, the atmosphere on the pitch was quite tense.   

Wisła ended the first half on an excellent note. Just before the referee’s whistle announced halftime, Patryk Małecki received a good pass on the wing and crossed the ball into the penalty area, where Piotr Ćwielong defeated Khomich with a header.

The second half of the match was much less exciting from a sporting point of view. Both teams together managed to create just a single goal-scoring opportunity during the entire 45 minutes. And this opportunity didn’t come until the 82nd minute, when Marcelo executed an excellent pass from the right wing to Sebastian Janik. “Jankes” closed the play with a header, which Khomich barely managed to clear for a corner kick. Unfortunately, at the very end of the match, the players’ accumulated frustration manifested itself in a big scuffle breaking out on the pitch.

Tested goalkeeper Jess Vanstrattan played the entire 90 minutes, but it was difficult to gauge his abilities as the Australian had very few occasions to demonstrate his skills.

Wisła Kraków - Spartak Moscow 1:1 (1:1)
0:1 Bazhenov 24'
1:1 Ćwielong 45'

Wisła Kraków: Vanstrattan - Baszczyński, Cleber, Marcelo, Piotr Brożek (46' Singlar) - Małecki (46' Łobodzinski, 88' Leszczak), Jirsak (66' Głowacki), Cantoro (33' Gołoś, 79' Mączyński), Zieńczuk (79' Janik) - Beto (46' Paweł Brożek), Ćwielong (73' Dawidowski)

Spartak Moskwa: Khomich - Makieyev, Jiranek, Fathi, Rodriguez - Bystrov (60' Rizhkov), Shishkin (38' Kudriashov), Sabitov, Pavlenko, Boyarincev, Bazhenov (65' Dzyuba)

Yellow cards: Cantoro (Wisła) - Shishkin (Spartak)
Red cards: Cantoro - Shishkin (second yellow)

M. Górski
Wisła Kraków SA Press Office