El. Champions League: Legia Warsaw beat Cork City on Michał Kucharczyk's magnificent goal

Legia Warsaw played his first game on the way to the group stage of the Champions League in Ireland, and his rival was the ambitious Cork City FC. The Polish Champion has long struggled with the runner-up of Ireland, until in the 79th minute, the goal of victory at the Turners Cross Stadium was not won by Michał Kucharczyk. A 1-0 (0-0) win is modest, but a cash advance. A rematch in a week in Warsaw.

Champions League qualifying – see results, shooters, line-up and calendar

After winning the Polish league, Legia Warsaw is fighting for the third time in a row in the group stage of the Champions League. Two years ago, the army broke down before qualifying and played memorable battles with Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon in the group. A year ago, Kazakhstan champion FK Astana closed his elite team, which won in their zone the third round of the 3-1 qualifier, in order to defend in Warsaw. advantage despite defeat (0-1). Now Legia, already under the leadership of Dean Klafurić, intends to return to LM, and a long way through the four qualifying rounds begins in Ireland.

The hosts in the first minutes went to the goal of Legia, but Arkadiusz Malarz was attentive. surprise the Irish who threatened twice to cross the door of Legia. In response, the Polish champion has moved boldly towards the rivals' goal and Jose Kante was able to open the result, but he was blocked. Legia played at high pressure and that made an impact, although in the 13th minute he could have lost a goal. William Remy and Inaki Astiz were stuck in the penalty box and if he had not had the Frenchman, Karl Sheppard would have scored 1-0.

Successful action made the locals mistrustful of the brave and Legia had to defend herself against pressure from the Irish for several minutes. Finally, the Polish champion attacked and Sebastian Szymański missed the free kick in the 21st minute. After a while, the young man could have come from the penalty area, but this time he missed a lot. But Kante, who in the 29th minute was in the penalty box and missed the ball, missed the chance, so the Cork goalkeeper easily caught him and stopped the threat under his goal.

The Irish presented a classic, full of fights and island soccer games, and the most felt was Jose Kante, probably the best player in the army before the break. Legia tried to counter, build a lot of actions, but at Cork's goal there was always something missing. And that is Szymański's free kick on a wall composed of Cork players, and after a quick action Kante played poorly at Marko Vesović, and Michał Kucharczyk misbehaved after a long pass from Cafu. Legia had the advantage all the time, she tried to control the game, but in the locker room she came down to the 0-0 results at the break.

After the change of camp, the Cork players leave, which creates a threat under the goal of visitors after a fixed game, and in the 53rd minute, they should lead 1-0. Legia's defense once again stared, but Karl Sheppard did not take advantage of the situation alone with Arkadiusz Malarz. Golkiper saved the skin of the Polish champions, motivated him as a captain to fight, but his colleagues failed. Missed from the distance Mateusz Wieteska, Szymański let himself be blocked and Kasper Hamalainen got drunk and gave the ball. Krzysztof Mączyński did not find the same goal, and a moment later Hamalainen sent the ball over the goal.

Light lacking in precision, idea to defeat the defensive rivals and a little luck. After an hour of play, there was no hope of winning, and the next few minutes did not change the picture of the game. Unclear shots behind the penalty area, slow play of the ball and unsuccessful shots in front of Cork's goal – this was not the case even for the second of Ireland. The Polish champion was doing very well on the defense, but the closer the home goals were, the worse the game looked. And the Irish in the 75th minute played a big company and they were very close to the goal of the Varsovians. This time the spell favored Legia, and the ball finally broke Cafu.

Finally, in the 79th minute, Legia reached it, Michał Kucharczyk scored a superb goal. The champions of Poland played a free kick in the penalty area, Kucharczyk made a superb pass and without hesitation he dropped the opening match. The ball landed directly in the goalie's window, and finally Wojtek documented their advantage in the LM qualifying match. Until the end of the match, Legia played very cautiously in defense, the Cork players attacked, but the painter and his defensive colleagues did not let themselves be surprised and the Polish champion won a hard fight on the territory of the rival.

The meeting will be held in Warsaw on 17 July (Tuesday). Starting at 9 pm In case of victory over the entire Cork City, the Polish champion will play in the second round with Spartak Trnava or HSK Zrinjski Mostar.

Purpose: Michał Kucharczyk (79th)

Arbitrator: Radu Marian Petrescu (Romania)

Spectators: 5795

Legia : Arkadiusz Malarz – William Remy, Inaki Astiz, Mateusz Wieteska – Marko Vesović, Cafu, Krzysztof Mączyński, Sebastian Szymański (76 years old, Dominik Nagy), Michał Kucharczyk, Jose Kante (76th Adam Hlousek), Kasper Hamalainen (82 years old, Sandro Kulenović).

See the match report

Dean Klafurić, coach of the Legia football team, said after the match:

– It was a tough match , as expected. The hosts played patiently and aggressively. In the first half, we did not play well, I mean creating actions and finishing them, but in the second half, it looks better. For us it was the first meeting of the season for the stake. We want to promote in the Champions League, my players have felt a lot of pressure. I congratulate them because in the second half they changed their attitude and showed themselves on the right side. Today, not only Michał Kucharczyk deserves praise, but the entire team.

– Cork has also created opportunities, especially after solid games of the game. This is typical of Irish football. Our rivals are during the season, which made them better prepared for the match.

– I want to thank our fans from Warsaw, England and Irish cities for their support. Also, I would like to congratulate the fans of the hosts and their team, they have created a good atmosphere. This is what should happen in the stadiums.