Football. The Fourth Motor Race, or the Rehabilitation of Dockers

The Port team made amends for their opening defeat in Radom by playing in an almost identical starting lineup as last week (with the "obvious" change of Borges to Koutris) and on Twardowski's pitch the Szczecin team defeated the Lublin team by a large margin, but the victory was paid for by the injury of their goalkeeper, who saved many shots before leaving the field, although most of them were not very dangerous.

Football PKO BP Ekstraklasa: POGOŃ Szczecin - Motor Lublin 4:1 (2:1); 0:1 Mathieu Scalet (9), 1:1 Marian Huja (15), 2:1 Efthymis Koulouris (40), 3:1 Fredrik Ulvestad (49), 4:1 Efthymis Koulouris (88).

CHASE: Valentin Cojocaru (75 Krzysztof Kamiński) - Linus Wahlqvist, Danijel Loncar, Marian Huja, Leonardo Koutris (63 Leo Borges) - Paul Mukairu, Fredrik Ulvestad, Jose Pozo (63 Mor N'Diaye), Adrian Przyborek (89 Kacper Smoliński), Kamil Grosicki (75 Musa Juwara) - 9. Efthymis Koulouris

MOTOR: Gasper Tratnik - Filip Wójcik (80 Paweł Stolarski), Arkadiusz Najemski, Herve Matthys, Krystian Palacz - Michał Król (74 Bradly van Hoeven), Jakub Łabojko (58 Sergi Samper), Bartosz Wolski, Mathieu Scalet (58 Ivo Rodrigues), Mbaye N'Diaye - Renat Dadaşov (58 Karol Czubak).

Yellow cards: Mukairu, Koutris - Najemski. Referee: Patryk Gryckiewicz (Toruń). Attendance: 19,813.

The match began with the visitors attacking, and in the 4th minute, an unguarded Wolski shot powerfully from outside the penalty area, but Huja took the shot on his head, resulting in a corner. Loncar responded with a header, but it went wide. In the 9th minute, Cojocaru made a big mistake while dribbling in the penalty area, and Scalet snatched the ball from him and slipped it into the net with a close-range slide. After a loss, Pogoń went on the attack, and in the 11th minute, Pozo launched a fine move, but the Spaniard's shot was blocked. In the 14th minute, Grosicki's cross to Koulouris was cut and cleared for a corner, after which Grosicki delivered a precise cross from the corner, and Huja headed the ball past the Motor goalkeeper with a three-meter header. Shortly afterward, in his own half, Koulouris was fouled by Najemski without the ball, which the referee likely didn't see (because in our opinion, the action didn't qualify for the advantage), but after a long delay, he showed the offender a yellow card (perhaps he received an informal VAR tip, although such actions are generally not subject to review by referees in front of a monitor). Towards the end of the second half, the referee disregarded two more fouls, on Koulouris and Mukairu. In the 22nd minute, Wolski's shot was weak and Cojocaru saved. Three minutes later, after a Pogoń counterattack, Koulouris's shot was blocked, resulting in a corner. Moments later, Mukairu's pass led Koulouris to fire over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Cojocaru delivered a dangerous pass to Koulouris, who was in position, but the Lublin goalkeeper beat him to the ball. In the 31st minute, the Szczecin goalkeeper saved Dadasov's header. Two minutes later, Pozo released Grosicki with a long pass from just outside his own penalty area, and it seemed our captain would be one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, he couldn't win a running duel with Wlski, and the Lubliner, who was blocking, cleared the ball for a corner. Four minutes later, Cojocaru saved a powerful shot from Palacz, but it cost him an injury and required several minutes of treatment on the pitch. In the 40th minute, Pozo passed to Przyborek, who played a phenomenal pass to Koulouris, who, after a short dribble, beat the defender and scored his second goal from close range, but only suffered a minor injury on a fine move. Three minutes later, there was considerable confusion in front of the Szczecin goal and a so-called 100% chance to equalize, but Mbaye Ndiaye finished the move with a shot just meters over the crossbar. A moment later, the same player delivered a powerful cross along the ground, but Cojocaru carefully crossed the ball, catching it, and in stoppage time of the first half, our goalkeeper saved Scaleta's shot.

The second half began with a dangerous attack from Szczecin, and Koulouris, under heavy attack, was blocked, but the ball fell to Pozo, who shot just wide of the post and into the advertising sign, leaving many fans thinking it was a goal. Najemski responded with a header, but the shot was saved. In the 49th minute, after a mix-up near the goal and then a cross from Koutris, Huja cut the ball back 12 meters to Ulvestad, who doubled the lead with a precise shot. In the 57th minute, Cojocaru saved Mbaye Ndiaye's shot, and three minutes later, he jumped to help Król's shot go over the bar. He fell to the ground, requiring a second intervention from Szczecin medics. Shortly after this incident, coach Robert Kolendowicz made two substitutions, strengthening Szczecin's defense and increasing the team's average height. In the 73rd minute, Wolski fired a shot over the bar, and moments later, Cojocaru, lying on the ground, required assistance for the third time. As in the dugout, after three counts, he had to leave the field and was replaced by the long-warming Kamiński. In the 77th minute, Przyborek's shot was blocked and the ball went out for a corner, and ten minutes later, debutant Juvara led a fine run, finishing the move with a narrowly off-target shot just wide of the top corner. Moments later, former porter Stolarski's shot was blocked by Huja. In the 89th minute, Pogoń launched a swift attack, and Borges, after an express run, passed the ball across goal to Koulouris, who fired a well-placed shot from practically a meter into an empty net, tying the score. In stoppage time, Kamiński also made a fine save by saving Czubak's header and catching a cross. ©℗

(mij)

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Earlier information

The hero of the match was Efthymis Koulouris, the top scorer of the 2024/25 season. The Greek striker scored twice and once again leads the scoring charts, albeit jointly with two other players.

Last spring, Pogoń lost 2-0 in Radom to Radomiak and played Motor at home three days later. They won 3-0, extending their chances of reaching the league podium. History has a way of repeating itself. After a 5-1 defeat in Radom a week ago, "Portowcy" got a chance to redeem themselves against the Lublin team. And they won again by three goals.

The match's opening moments, however, didn't suggest the home side would defeat the visitors. Coach Mateusz Stolarski's men took the field with a tactic reminiscent of Pogoń's, namely high-pressing play. This benefited them, earning them the lead in the ninth minute. Mathieu Scalet attacked Valentin Cojocaru, who had the ball at his feet, outplayed the home Romanian goalkeeper, and rolled the ball into the net.

However, Lublin's joy lasted only six minutes, until Kamil Grosicki delivered a corner kick to the five-meter mark of the penalty area, and Marian Huja headed the ball into the net.

The visitors refused to give up and played an open game, with both teams having scoring opportunities. However, the home side was more effective.

Just before halftime, the top scorer in the previous season's top flight made his presence felt. Koulouris received a through ball from Adrian Przyborek just outside the penalty area, played with a pair of visiting defenders in the penalty area, and gave Pogoń the lead.

Just after the break, the hosts made it 3-1 thanks to a fine volley from Norwegian Fredrik Ulvestad, setting the tone for the match. While the visitors pushed for at least a goal, they were unable to break through Cojocaru, and then his substitute, Krzysztof Kamiński, who came on as a substitute before the break following an injury to the Romanian.

The hosts, too, refused to rest on their three-goal deficit, and just before the final whistle, they stung their opponents once again. Leo Borges raced down the left wing, played a pass to the front of the goal, and there it was, none other than Koulouris, who slotted the ball into the net and then triumphantly stood in goal with his arms spread wide, in front of his fanbase.

Coach Robert Kolendowicz gave five new players a chance to play in the match against Motor. They fulfilled the challenge, but the Szczecin coach still urges patience, repeating that "the old Pogoń is gone, and the new one is under construction."

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