Lechia Gdańsk’s trip to Kraków proved successful, as the team secured a 2–0 victory over Cracovia. Thanks to this away win in southern Poland, the White-Greens improved their position in the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa table.
Head coach John Carver’s comments after the #CRALGD match:
I’ve lost my voice, but I’ll try to say a few words. The way we played today was one of the best performances—if not the best—since I arrived in Gdańsk. We’ve had ups and downs in away games before, but never brought back a result. I think today you saw a team that not only worked hard and played good football, but more importantly didn’t make any mistakes that would cost us goals. We knew how difficult it would be against a strong opponent, so we had to do everything to win the game and we did.
On the future of Lechia Gdańsk:
I’ve been here for four months and I can clearly see how quickly we’re progressing. Let’s not forget, we have the youngest squad in the league—and the smallest in terms of numbers. This team has to learn how to win matches if we want to stay in the Ekstraklasa. I believe the club is developing and heading in the right direction, but we still have three games left to ensure survival, and we have to do our job well.
Did the coach feel relieved after the win in Kraków?
Yes, I did feel a sense of relief, especially since we lost Tomas before the match—our best striker. It’s always a concern when your top scorer is unavailable. Huge credit to Michał for how he performed in his first start, and a big applause as well to Kacper Sezonienko, who came off the bench and gave our attack some new energy. Massive respect to all the substitutes.
Coach Carver had to make two substitutions—Bujar Pllana and Camilo Mena were taken off:
Those changes were more precautionary, as we have more matches to play. I think we can be proud as a team of how the substitutes performed. And just to be clear—Camilo is a player who’s vulnerable to injury, so we took him off as a preventive measure to protect him.
Cracovia struggled to create clear chances during the match:
We had a tactical plan for this game—how to position and deploy our players. I’d rather praise our team for executing that plan so well, which made life difficult for Cracovia. But let’s not forget they’re a good side, and I see the potential they have. A lot of respect to their coach, who’s done a great job. That makes this win even more meaningful—we beat a strong team.
On Carver’s future in Gdańsk:
Honestly, I don’t want to talk about my future—it’s not up to me. Today is a day I want to enjoy, because the players in our dressing room, my coaching staff, and the many people who work behind the scenes at the club—all of them deserve great respect. Thanks to our collective work, we are where we are now. Those who know me understand—I’m here to help Lechia win.
