Wisla cling on, Legia stutter

3rd December 2011

Polish football suffered a mixed start to December (ignoring the PZPN debacle covered elsewhere in this paper), with Wisla Krakow clinging on to hopes of qualifying from the Europa League, while Legia were given a reminder of the gulf in class separating them from the European elite.

This Thursday Wisla defeated Odense in Denmark 2-1, erasing some of the pain of their 3-1 home defeat earlier in the competition by the same team. Elsewhere, results went the way of the Krakow side, with FC Twente defeating Fulham 1-0 in Holland.

Now Wisla enter the final round of group matches only one point behind the London side and with everything to play for. Qualification is still somewhat unlikely, as Fulham play the group’s weakest team Odense at home, while Wisla entertain top dogs Twente.

Thursday’s match, though, was a positive exercise for the beleaguered Krakow side as they raced into a 2-0 first half lead, and despite being pegged back early in the second half, they saw the match out comfortably enough, and even introduced the much-missed Israeli midfielder Maor Melikson back into the side following a long and troubled absence involving injury and a flirtation with the Polish national side that ended badly for all involved.

Wisla won’t enter the last match with too much hope, but at least the positive result may be reflected in their remaining league matches, approaching the winter break.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night Legia suffered a depressing 3-0 home loss to PSV Eindhoven. Qualification to the next round had already been secured, and that was a fortunate thing, as PSV comprehensively outplayed their hosts.

The Dutch side were stronger in all areas and took the chances that came their way clinically. Legia started brightly enough, but faded badly and were reduced to 10 men in the second half after Kuciak was sent off conceding a penalty. The Warsaw side could feel a little aggrieved about that, as it came from a desperate lunge in defence following a missed offside call.

That put Legia 2-0 down, having gone a goal behind earlier following an unlucky deflection off Michal Zewlakow, and took the wind out of their sails. The third goal came soon after and the match slowly petered out. Manager Maciej Skorza will now need to pick his team up for the last few fixtures prior to the winter break.