A Five-Star Performance! League Leaders Thrashed in Gdańsk: #LGDGÓR 5:2
In the 18th round of the PKO BP Ekstraklasa, Lechia Gdańsk hosted Górnik Zabrze for the second time in a week. The clear objective for the White-and-Greens was to take revenge for the Polish Cup defeat and prove their strength of character. And that is exactly what happened. Lechia won 5–2 and climbed up the league table.
Lechia entered Friday’s match as if Tuesday’s defeat had never happened. The Gdańsk side was active both on and off the ball, attacking boldly and clearly outperforming their opponents from the very beginning. In the 5th minute, their strong start seemed to pay off when the ball rebounded off the crossbar of Tomasz Loska’s goal and landed at the feet of Maksym Diachuk, who calmly finished into the net. Unfortunately, after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed.
Undeterred, Lechia continued to press forward. Just three minutes later, the ball found the net again—this time with no controversy. Tomas Bobcek, the league’s top scorer, struck once more. One could only say: Bobcek on fire!
After a brief stoppage, the game resumed, but it was Górnik who made better use of the pause. In the 35th minute, Patrik Hellebrand equalized for the visitors. What followed in the unusually long added time was a true football spectacle. First, after a Górnik corner kick, Tomasz Neugebauer produced a phenomenal goal-line clearance, heading the ball away just before it crossed the line. Moments later, in the 4th minute of stoppage time, a beautiful move down the right flank by Matúš Vojtko found the unmarked Kacper Sezonienko in the penalty area. The young Lechia forward calmly controlled the ball and placed it into the corner of the net to make it 2–1.
The added time of the first half proved extremely fruitful for Lechia. The hosts pushed for more, eager to go into the break with a comfortable lead. After a corner kick, once again Sezonienko showed great instinct in the box, volleying the dropping ball into the net for his second goal of the night and a 3–1 lead. When Kacper gets going, not even an angry Górnik can stop him. However, that was still not the end of the drama. In the final minute of stoppage time, Rafał Janicki converted a penalty for Górnik, bringing the score to 3–2 at halftime.
Second Half
Lechia started the second half unchanged, while Kamil Lukoszek replaced Bastien Donio for Górnik. Once again, Lechia began stronger. In the 48th minute, Rifet Kapić played a brilliant through ball to Tomas Bobcek, who sprinted toward goal but, from a difficult angle, sent the ball over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Maksym Diachuk made a heroic defensive intervention to prevent an equalizer.
Lechia stayed true to their style—despite the tension, they fought for every ball. Their courage paid off in the 61st minute. After a well-constructed team move, Aleksandar Cirković played a perfect through pass to Bobcek, who once again found the net. Another goal for the Slovak striker.
In the 68th minute, Górnik made changes, bringing on Lukas Podolski and Matúš Kmet for Young-Jun Goh and Kryspin Szcześniak. Shortly afterward, John Carver also turned to his bench. Bohdan Viunnyk and Dawid Kurminowski came on, while Cirković and the two-goal hero Bobcek left the pitch. Bobcek was deservedly given a standing ovation by the crowd at Polsat Plus Arena.
The impact of those substitutions was immediate. Lechia capitalized on defensive chaos from Górnik. Neugebauer found Viunnyk with a precise pass, and the Ukrainian striker made no mistake, scoring for 5–2.
In the 89th minute, Camilo Mena nearly delivered the final blow after a brilliant solo run across half the pitch, but the goal did not materialize—unfortunately, as it would have been a spectacular finish. Moments later, the match ended, and “Santa Claus” came early for the Lechia fans, delivering a memorable 5:2 victory.
Lechia Gdańsk – Górnik Zabrze 5:2 (3:2)
Goals:
1:0 Bobcek 7’
1:1 Hellebrand 35’
2:1 Sezonienko 45+4’
3:1 Sezonienko 45+8’
3:2 Janicki (pen) 45+17’
4:2 Bobcek 60’
5L2 Viunnyk 71’
Lechia Gdańsk:
Paulsen – Wójtowicz, Rodin, Diachuk, Vojtko – Mena, Kapić, Neugebauer, Cirković (69′ Viunnyk) – Sezonienko, Bobcek (69′ Kurminowski)
Górnik Zabrze:
Loska – Szcześniak (68′ Kmet), Janicki, Pingot, Janża – Donio (46′ Lukoszek), Hellebrand, Goh (68′ Podolski) – Sow (89′ Abdullahi), Khlan (83′ Dzięgielewski), Liseth