Arka remains the only undefeated team in the Ekstraklasa. In a match between top teams in the first league, Motor drew at home with the yellow-blue team 2-2, and the point difference between the teams remained at seven points. The goal tally was increased by Karol Czubak and Hubert Adamczyk on the Arka side, and Bartosz Wolski and Piotr Ceglarz from a penalty kick on the home team’s side.
Fortuna 1 league – 27th round of the 2023/24 season
Motor Lublin – Arka Gdynia 2:2 (2:1)
Goals: Wolski 7′, Ceglarz 31′(k) – Czubak 14′, Adamczyk 62′
Motor: Rosa – Stolarski (65′ Lis), Najemski (68′ Rudol), Kruk, Palacz – Wełniak (68′ Wojtkowski), Gąsior (65′ Scalet), Wolski – M. Król (80′ Rybicki), Mraz, Ceglarz
Back: Lenarcik – Stolc, Marcjanik, Dobrotka, Gojny – Milewski (21′ Adamczyk), Gol – Skóra (68′ Lipkowski), Sidibe (68′ Gaprindashwili), Kobacki (90′ Hafez) – Czubak
Yellow cards: Gojny, Adamczyk, Lipkowski, Dobrotka
Judge: Daniel Stefański (Bydgoszcz); VAR: Marcin Szczerbowicz (Olsztyn)
Viewers: 11 667
The 26th round of Fortuna 1 Liga brought results that brought Arka to the leader’s seat. More importantly, the advantage over the play-off zone is currently 6 points, which has brought Arka another step closer to the desired promotion. The distance over Motor Lublin before the match was 7 points, which meant that for the Lublin team the clash with the yellow-blue team was actually the last chance to still believe in catching up with our team before the end of the season.
Arka’s starting lineup was nothing surprising. What might have caught attention was the presence of Marc Navarro on the bench and the absence of Marcel Predenkiewicz. In turn, the performances from the first minute of Przemek Stolec and Karol Czubak meant that their number of appearances in the Arka jersey that evening became three-digit. These were Przemek and Karol’s hundredth performances in the Gdynia band!
There were two changes in the hosts’ lineup compared to the victorious battle at Wawel – instead of Rudol and Scalet, coach Stolarski sent Kruk and Gąsior into battle.
Motor’s fighting mood was felt just a few dozen seconds after the first whistle. First, Kobacki’s return to his own penalty area saved our team from a shot from 15 meters, but a few moments later Wolski slightly missed from a similar distance. We didn’t have to wait long for Arka’s response, because it was 3 minutes on the stadium clock when Stolc crossed the ball into the penalty area towards Kobacki, but Stolarski, the coach’s younger brother, prevented Olaf from taking a shot.
Unfortunately, the hosts opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Gąsior’s perpendicular pass surprised our defense line, Wolski took advantage of the mistake and beat Lenarcik with an accurate shot at the post. The lost goal irritated the Gdynia team, who decisively attacked the hosts’ goal. After several unsuccessful actions, in the 14th minute Karol Czubak scored the equalizing goal. A great pass into the penalty area from Janusz Gol reached our sniper, and he scored his 14th goal of the season with a strong shot on the ground!
The Gdynia team wanted to follow suit, and three minutes later Sidibe showed up and created a chance for Milewski with a great pass in the Motor penalty area, but the Arka central midfielder was blocked by Gąsior. As it turned out, this was Sebastian’s last action in the match, because a moment later he reported a health problem and it ended with a substitution. Adamczyk appeared on the pitch.
In the 28th minute, Dobrotka made a significant mistake. While playing the ball from his own goal, the Slovak passed the ball straight to the opponent’s feet, a moment later Wolski received the pass, but luckily for us, he sent the ball straight to Lenarcik. A minute later, bad luck befell Gojny this time. When jumping, Dawid stretched his hand near Michał Król’s head, and since everything happened in the sixteenth, referee Stefański pointed to the lime. Although we had doubts about the correctness of this decision, VAR did not change it. Ceglarz took the penalty kick and a moment later the Motor stadium exploded with joy for the second time.
In the 38th minute, Skóra could have taken advantage of the Lublin team’s mistake in front of their penalty area. After taking over the ball, he fired a shot from 18 meters, but Rosa, although with problems, managed to return the ball. Three minutes later, Dobrotka headed in from 5 meters, taking advantage of Stolec’s precise pass, but the ball did not go into the goal.
At the end of the first half, Motor pressed again. On the left side, Palacz centered to the eighth meter, and Mraz appeared there, but he missed. In added time, Adamczyk’s good action resulted only in a corner kick, although it had greater potential. Wojciech Łobodziński complained to the referee, and Daniel Stefański decided to warn our coach with a yellow card. After the defenders kicked the ball, the referee ended the first part of the match.
After the game was resumed, the spectacle did not lose its attractiveness. Arka attacked decisively and in the 49th minute, Adamczyk shot inside the sixteen, but into the side net. The next attempt came 5 minutes later thanks to Gol, who decided to shoot from the air, but it was very inaccurate.
We will remember what happened in the 62nd minute for a long time. Hubert Adamczyk then showed a glimpse of his talent when he attempted a shot from over 20 meters, and the ball was sent towards the far post and fluttered into the net! Rosa was helpless! Karol Czubak will certainly remember the 68th minute for a long time. Then Kobacki performed a spectacular action, he broke through from the left side into the penalty area, crossed to Czubak, who was left a bit of space by the defenders, but Karol unfortunately missed the goal from 12 meters…
In the 72nd minute, Wojtkowski caused big problems for our defense when he started dribbling in the penalty area. After passing two opponents on the tenth meter, Marcjanik took the ball from him and prevented him from taking a shot.
The closer to the end of the match, the more things happened in front of Rosa’s goal, although we couldn’t wait to see the shots. Among other things, Gaprindashvili tried a successful dribble in the hosts’ penalty area, but there was no room for a shot. In the 89th minute, Ceglarz tried to surprise Lenarcik directly from a corner kick, but without success. In the added time, coach Łobodziński sent Abdallah Hafez into the match, which was the Egyptian’s debut in an official Arka match. However, the 240 seconds added by referee Stefański did not bring any actions that could have changed the result of the match.
The match in Lublin ended with a division of points, which meant that it remains the only team in the back of the Ekstraklasa that has not yet experienced the bitterness of defeat in 2024. It is certainly difficult to be disappointed with this result, especially since the match was of a very good standard and did not disappoint both the fans in the stands and in front of the TV sets. Arka maintained its point advantage over Motor in the table and can listen to the results from other first league fields. The only thing that may worry the fans in Gdynia is the news about the health of Sebastian Milewski, who had to leave the field in Lublin after less than 20 minutes of play.
Arkadiusz Skubek
Motor Lublin – Arka Gdynia
Goals
2
2
Shots
7
10
Accurate
3
4
Corner kicks
4
4
Foul
12
17
Burnt
0
1
Ball possession
48%
52%
Yellow cards
0
4
Red cards
0
0
source of match statistics: State score