Arka Gdynia SA Official Website - Post-match center: Arka Gdynia

It was a show of strength for the yellow and blue team. The guests took the lead, but ultimately they were unable to stop Arka, which defeated their rivals 5:1. Two goals were scored by the reliable Karol Czubak, one by Martin Dobrotka, and Sidibe and Turski, who were making their debut at the Olympic Games, also added their goals. Gojny also had a great match, serving three passes to the goal scorers.

Fortuna 1 league – 20th round of the 2023/24 season

Arka Gdynia – Stal Rzeszów 5:1 (2:1)

Goals: Dobrotka 36′, Czubak 45+2′, 64′, Sidibe 78′, Turski 88′ – Thill 17′(k)

Back: Lenarcik – Stolc, Marcjanik, Dobrotka, Gojny – Milewski, Gol (75′ Borecki), Adamczyk (63′ Gaprindashwili) – Skóra (63′ Lipkowski), Kobacki (75′ Sidibe) – Czubak (82′ Turski)

Stood: Bieszczad – Warczak, Kościelny, Góra, Simcak, Łysiak (81′ Kądziołka), Thill, Bukowski (71′ Diaz), Łyczko (46′ Wachowiak), Salomon (46′ Adler), Prokić

Yellow cards: Kobacki – Łysiak, Łyczko

Red card: Simcak (66′ for a brutal foul)

Judge: Marcin Szczerbowicz (Olsztyn); VAR: Grzegorz Kawałko (Wyszowate)

Viewers: 5987

Arka started league play in 2024 in the best possible way. The impressive and indisputable victory in Warsaw was the best invitation that Wojciech Łobodziński’s team could send to their fans for this year’s first match at the Olympic Stadium. The fans did not disappoint, and their favorites did everything to show that they are worth supporting in this and subsequent matches. First things first…

The pressure at the top is very big, both Wisła and GKS Tychy won in the previously played matches, so the importance of the match with Stal Rzeszów automatically increased. Coach Łobodziński had no need to interfere with the starting line-up and, as expected, he did not do so. Stal coach Marek Zub decided to make one correction compared to the previous match – Karol Łysiak appeared in the starting lineup. The recovering Adler da Silva, the best scorer of the team from Podkarpacie, appeared on the bench.

Arka could have opened the match similarly to Warsaw – in the second minute, Arka’s trip into Stal’s penalty area brought a great opportunity for Skóra. Gojny centered from the left side of the penalty area, and Skóra, who escaped from the defenders, just wanted to put his foot in, but he did not do it precisely because the ball missed the goal. Arka’s pressure was gaining strength, because 120 seconds later, after Kobacki’s action, Milewski had a chance, but this time the ball was rebounded by Gerard Bieszczad. In the 7th minute, Olaf Kobacki finished the siege of the penalty area with a slightly missed shot.

It seemed that a goal for Arka was a matter of time, and meanwhile Stal’s first action and the seemingly harmless situation caused VAR to intervene. After a long analysis, the referee noticed an offense in the penalty area and pointed to a penalty. The ball was set there by Sebastien Thill and after a while the Rzeszów players were happy with the goal…

Arka immediately resumed its attack and in the first action Hubert Adamczyk was close to equalizing the score, because his clever shot at the near post was successfully deflected by Bieszczad. After taking the lead, there could have been only one idea for Stal’s game – a tight defense, which at times came down to playing with eleven players in their penalty area. Olaf Kobacki, who always had at least two rivals nearby, was given special care. Janusz Gol could count on similar “privileges”, and his opponents also did not make his life easier.

Minutes passed and there was no equalizing goal, and this state of affairs gave our rivals confidence. There was a close call, and a bizarre defense mistake with Lenarcik, who played the ball straight at Prokić’s feet, would have resulted in the second goal after a shot from over 40 meters. Fortunately, Prokić missed…

In the 33rd minute, Czubak won the fight with the defender, who ran into the penalty area, but decided to shoot from an acute angle. The shot was deflected by Bieszczad, and it’s a pity that Karol didn’t notice the lonely Skóra, who was waiting for the ball in front of an empty goal… But nothing was lost, because after a while, Gojny centered the corner kick straight at Dobrotka’s head, and our experienced stopper hit it exactly at the far post and we had draw!

In the 41st minute it seemed that the score must be 2-1, because after Kobacki’s play, Czubak faced Bieszczad again. Unfortunately, the visiting goalkeeper came out on top again, and what’s more, the referees signaled that our striker was offside. Two minutes later, coach Zub’s players launched an effective attack, which ended with a dangerous shot by Bukowski, but also with a great intervention by Lenarcik. However, also in this case the referee’s flag went up.

The referee added as many as six minutes to the game in the first half, but two were enough for Gdynia to take a well-deserved lead. On the left side of the visitors’ penalty area there was Gojny, who for the second time centered six meters with surgical precision, and then Czubak headed it in and this time the Stal goalkeeper was helpless! Before the whistle sounded inviting the teams to break, Arka seriously threatened their rivals twice more. First, Czubak headed it again, this time after Gojny’s cross from a corner kick, but the ball passed Bieszczad’s goal post. In the last action of the first half, Kobacki, after taking over the ball in the middle of the pitch, played 16 meters to Milewski, who decided to shoot, and the ball ricocheted only to stop at the post.

For the second half of the match, the guests made two changes, and one of the new players was Adler da Silva. In the 48th minute, Stal had a free kick almost from the penalty area line. Thill fired a shot near the wall, but Lenarcik was at his post. In the 52nd minute we saw an action similar to those that gave Arka two goals in Warsaw. Kobacki’s long pass from Marcjanik behind the backs of the defenders, but Olaf shot straight at the goalkeeper from 13 meters!

In the 56th minute, Adler showed himself for the first time. After one feint in the penalty area, he sent a shot at the goal, but Lenarcik was not surprised and confidently caught the ball. A minute later, the Stal striker attempted a header, but clearly missed it. The ease with which the Brazilian got into shooting positions must have inspired respect and caution among our team.

In the 62nd minute, Stolc took advantage of the defender’s error and took the ball just outside the visitors’ penalty area, then fired a clever but missed shot. A moment later, coach Łobodziński sent Lipkowski and Gaprindashvili into the fight. And the Georgian made an assist in his first contact with the ball! He centered perfectly, and Czubak did not waste the opportunity and put the ball into the goal with a header from eight meters!

A minute later, Milan Simcak decided to “appreciate” Gaprindashvili’s entry onto the pitch in a different way. With his legs straight, he fell into the Georgian’s legs with great impact and miraculously he didn’t break his leg! Of course, a red card and we will listen to how many matches the Stal player will be punished, because such behavior must be condemned with full severity!

In the 70th minute, Tornike could have administered justice himself, because after Kobacki’s action he took over the ball in the penalty area, but because his back was to the goal, the situation was not easy for him. Despite this, Gaprindashvili turned and fired a shot, which, however, missed Bieszczad’s goal.

Hubert Turski appeared on the pitch for the last 10 minutes of the match and everyone was wondering whether he would contribute to Arka’s goal, because both Gaprindashvili and Sidibe managed to do so. And already in the 84th minute this could have happened – Lipkowski made a perfect cross, and Turski hit the ball perfectly, but Bieszczad did a phenomenal job, somehow deflecting the ball! A minute later, Turski had the ball in Stal’s penalty area again, but this time he had two defenders on his back and was unable to take a shot.

In the 88th minute, however, the inevitable happened and Turski scored his debut goal! A through pass from Gojny and the striker acquired from Pogoń found himself one-on-one with Bieszczad and he didn’t miss the opportunity! A great performance by all the substitutes, who contributed greatly to the spectacular win over the dangerous Stal today! And Gojny was in a class of his own that day – he completed a hat-trick of assists!

It was a real show of strength of Arka Gdynia. Stal did not play the role of whipping boys in Gdynia, they took the lead and caused a lot of blood for the hosts, and yet they were unable to cope with the yellow and blue team, who, with the significant support of the substitute players, defeated the team from Podkarpacie! A dream start to spring in Gdynia and a loud signal for the entire league about who will fight for places awarded with direct promotion to the Ekstraklasa!

Arkadiusz Skubek