POZNAN, Poland. December 10 (PSN) – Lech Poznan took part in the group stage action of the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
The Kolejorz lost 0:2 in their sixth and last group game at home against Rangers FC.
Thursday’s match for Lech’s head coach Dariusz Zuraw was an honoury farewell to Europe, as they lost any chances of advancing from the group. In turn, for Rangers it was a match for first place in the group, for which they were determined to not lose it to Benfica Lisbon.
The match started off somewhat promising for the hosts, who were almost able to take the lead early as the 15th minute, but Lubomir Satka’s header from a cross went just wide over the goal. In the following minutes, the Scottish visitors retaliated and tried to press their opponents, in turn causing serious problems for the Polish vice-champions. This eventually resulted a goal in the 31st minute, where Cerdric Itten took advantage of a fatal turn over from Jakub Kaminski and blasted the ball into the net without any challenge whatsoever.
Things afterwards started to become even clearer after the break, as Rangers begun to claim a firm control over the game with superior ball possession.
Despite this, Lech once again threatened the Rangers goal – this time with a shot on target by Tymoteusz Puchacz from a free kick, whom was denied by netminder Jon McLaughlin. However, this would mean little as soon afterwards Steven Gerrard’s side doubled their score in the 72nd minute. Born Barisic’s free-kick cross into the box was headed onto Lech’s crossbar by Connor Goldson, but was right afterwards pounced into the net by Ianis Hagi who claimed the goal.
The Romanian international a few minutes later attempted to score himself a brace, taking a long shot from outside the penalty area which forced Bednarek to fly across the net to make the save.
Ultimately, the score remained 0:2 in favor of the Scots until the final whistle. Lech Poznan had to accept their fifth defeat in the group stage, claiming last place with only 3 points, while Rangers cemented their position in first place.
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Lech Poznań – Rangers FC 0:2 (0:1)
Goals: Itten 31′, Hagi 72′
Yellow carded: Zungu, Balogun
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez (Spain)
Lech: 35. Filip Bednarek – 91. Bohdan Butko, 37. Ľubomír Šatka, 5. Đorđe Crnomarković, 27. Tymoteusz Puchacz – 21. Michał Skóraś (12, 8. Jan Sýkora; 64, 10. Dani Ramírez), 6. Karlo Muhar, 25. Pedro Tiba (46, 15. Jakub Moder), 11. Filip Marchwiński, 38. Jakub Kamiński (46, 3. Wasyl Kraweć) – 9. Mikael Ishak (64, 29. Mohammad Awwad)
Rangers: 33. Jon McLaughlin – 16. Nathan Patterson (66, 2. James Tavernier), 6. Connor Goldson, 26. Leon Balogun (80, 3. Calvin Bassey), 31. Borna Barišić – 37. Scott Arfield, 15. Bongani Zungu (77, 21. Brandon Barker), 18. Glen Kamara – 17. Joe Aribo, 11. Cédric Itten (80, 20. Alfredo Morelos), 7. Ianis Hagi (77, 14. Ryan Kent)
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