Lech Finally got themselves a #1 Keeper

The powers of the Ekstraklasa have been loading up on talent this summer, trying to stack a roster for what should be a very competitive 2009/10 season. Such moves like Arek Radomski from NEC in the Dutch league to Lech Poznan, Carlo Costly returning from his load deal to GKS Belchatow from Birmingham City, Marcin Mieciel going back to Legia Warsaw from German VfL Bochum and Wisla Krakow bringing in Lukasz Gargula and Andraz Kirm. However, the biggest signing of them all may have been this past week when Lech Poznan signed goalkeeper Grzegorz Kasprzik from Piast Gliwice.

Report from Gliwice, Poland…

Hey Soca Soul readers, greetings from Gliwice! I had the honour on going last night to the Piast Gliwice vs. Legia Warsaw match. I didn’t take any photos, we forgot our camera at home. Great game I thought and Piast has come a long ways from where they were. Legia are truly a very talented team but Piast had more attacks. Legia had more of the play and kept the ball well, but in terms of attacking Piast had the advantage. Piast keeper Grzegorz Kasprzik was tested only once before the strike by Takesure Chinyama. Which was an absolute beast of a play. Chinyama beat Kasprzik and shot it from a nearly impossible angle to the goal. There was a bit of confusion during the game when an apparent knife was thrown at Kasprizik. Piast should only blame themselves. You won’t win without scoring goals and Sebasitan Olszar and Kamil Wilczek had great chances but failed. Olszar actually had multiple chances.

Ekstraklasa Round 22 Wrap-up

The Polish Ekstraklasa returned after a week off due to international duty. Piast Gliwice can finally they they “arrived” to the Ekstraklasa, as they hosted their first game in Gliwice since getting their promotion. Piast Gliwice has been playing in Wodzislawiu Slaskim as their stadium was getting fixed to meet Polish FA regulations. And Piast did not disappoint, beating their rivals, Gornik Zabrze, 1-0, which also moved Piast from regulation battle to 9th place. The premier match of the weekend was in Poznan, between Wisla Krakow and Lech Poznan. In a very physical match, Krakow took the lead early in the 2nd half with a goal by Peter Singlar. Lech Poznan tied it though, in the 83rd minute, on a Semir Stilic strike to give his club the draw. Legia Warsaw got full points, in a tight game against Arka Gydnia, but a solid road victory for the capital team. Goal scoring machine Takesure Chinyama gave his team the advantage, which now moves Legia just 1 point behind leader Lech Poznan.

Ekstraklasa Round 21 Wrap-up

Gornik Zabrze and Legia Warsaw started the weekend off on Friday in a 0-0 draw. Legia outplayed Henryk Kasperczak’s squad but were unable to connect on a goal, in a game watched by national team coach Leo Beenhakker. Zabrze’s goalkeeper Sebastian Nowak played a great game and was the main reason why Gornik got a very valuable point.  On Saturday, Ruch Chorzow’s struggled continued as they lost yet again, 1-0, to Odra Wodzislaw and Lech Poznan still has troubles scoring goals, as they tied Arka Gydnia 0-0. Wisla Krakow after being down 1-0 at half-time to Cracovia in the Krakow derby, had an offensive attack in the second half, scoring four goals. Here’s the rest from the weekend from the ekstraklasa.

Ekstraklasa Round 20 wrap-up

This week can be described easily by just one word: Upsets. The upsets started Friday, with Polonia Warsaw and Legia Warsaw both losing. Polonia lost 3-1 to LKS Lodz, while Legia lost 2-1 to Jagiellonia. Upsets continued on Saturday, as Wisla Krakow tried to get a win and jump over both Warsaw clubs into second place, but was unable to score at GKS Belchatow and tied 0-0 in a game where Wisla star Pawel Brozek left on a stretcher after colliding with Belchatow’s goalkeeper Lukasz Sapela. The upsets didn’t stop there, on Sunday, Gornik Zabrze shocked Lech Poznan and tied the first place team 1-1. Lech tried to get a very solid lead on the standings but couldn’t score on the last place Zabrze side until the 92nd minute, when a own-goal by Pawel Strak cost the home side a full-3 points.

Ekstraklasa Round 19 wrap-up

Ekstraklasa got to a real crazy start to Round 19 on Friday with LKS Lodz holding on to a 4-3 victory over Cracovia Krakow. The game featured the most goals of any match this season, and also featured some late second heroics as LKS Lodz was down by two in their home stadium with only a minute to go. LKS Lodz needed a miracle. And they got it. First, Rafal Kujawa scored in the 89th minute, and then Wahan Geworgian scored give Lodz the all important 3 points. National team hopefuls Maciej Iwanski, Robert Lewandowski , Roger, and Pawel Brozek all scored for their clubs this weekend as well. Here’s the rest from around the Ekstraklasa in Round 19-