Having qualified for the fourth qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, Legia Warsaw were looking for their first win in three weeks in the Ekstraklasa on Sunday. After a home defeat to Piast Gliwice (1:2) and an away draw against Puszcza Niepołomice (2:2), Goncalo Feio’s side hosted Radomiak Radom, who were also in desperate need of points, having started the season with a win and two defeats.
Legia Warszawa is the new leader of Ekstraklasa. Smooth win in the “Friendship Match”
It wasn’t a great game, but the home side had a clear advantage from the start. However, in the first quarter of an hour, Legia could only afford to take accurate shots from outside the box by Ryoya Morishita and Bla Kramer, which were dealt with confidently by Viktor Kuptas, who replaced Maciej Kekulski in goal as Radomiak, on loan from Legia, was unable to play in this match based on an agreement between the two clubs.
In the 19th minute, Radomiak responded with an individual effort from Leonardo Rocha who could not get past Kasper Tobiasz from an acute angle. This was the case for the visitors in the first half, and a few minutes later they lost the injured midfielder Luisao.
Legia Warszawa took the lead in the 37th minute when Rahil Mukhamedov blocked Bartosz Kapustka’s shot with his hand, and the ball narrowly missed Radomiak’s goal. After the VAR intervention, referee Damian Sylwesterczak pointed to the spot, and Blaž Kramer made no mistake from the spot.
In stoppage time, the home side extended their lead after Miguel Alvarela cleared the ball from the right wing inside the penalty area to Bartosz Kapustka, who surprised Legia midfielder Viktor Kuptas with a left-footed shot from several metres out.
In the second half, almost nothing happened for a quarter of an hour. But out of this “silence”, Radomiak created a move that led to him scoring a goal in the 61st minute. After a great pass from Leandro, Capeta Capemba found himself facing the goalkeeper and won the duel with Kasper Tobiasz.
However, less than ten minutes later, the score was 3-1 to Legia, after referee Damian Sylwesterczak awarded a second penalty to the home side. This time more controversial, after Damian Jakubek allegedly fouled Claude Goncalves. Marc Gual did nothing wrong from eleven metres out.
This goal almost killed Łazienkowska’s feelings, although in the 83rd minute Capita Capemba had another chance to bring Radomiak back into the game. This time, in a one-on-one, Kacper Tobiasz turned out to be the better player.
Legia were also looking for another goal to put them in the Ekstraklasa leader’s position. In the 89th minute, Ruben Vinagre made a simple mistake with his right foot from 16 metres out, but just a minute later an effective counterattack by Goncalo Villo’s team ended with a left-footed shot from Wojciech Urbanski, after which Victor Kuptas made a mistake. The fourth goal for the home side became a reality. Thanks to this goal, Legia moved to the top of the table.
Legia Warszawa easily beat Radomiak Radom 4:1 and with 10 points, thanks to the best goal tally, became the new leader of the PKO Ekstraklasa. Radomiak remains with three points and is just above the relegation zone.
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