Legia Warsaw 5 – 0 Górnik Łęczna

To their last game of 2016, Legia entered the field without the help of the injured Guilherme and Aleksandar Prijović. Manager Jacek Magiera decided to place Nemanja Nikolić in the furthest forward position, and the Brazilian was placed by Qazaishvili. The defence on the other hand was at its strongest, featuring Bereszyński, Pazdan, Rzeźniczak and Hlousek. The Militarians had something to play for, as both Lechia and Jagiellonia lost their games on Saturday. A win against Górnik Łęczna would put them only four points behind the leaders.

From the start the Militarians put their foot on the gas, creating attack after attack on the oppositions goal. The first goal came in the 5^th minute from Nemanja Nikolić. Vadis Odjidja Ofoe played in a flat ball from the centre to the left side of the penalty box to Qazaishvili, who placed the ball in the path of “Niko”, slotting the ball into the net. 1:0! One goal did not quench their lust for goals however, as the players continued to attack.

At times, they lacked precision when it came to the final pass. Other times, the Legionnaires attempted difficult solutions to their attacks, which resulted in the ball returning to the opposition. Despite this, in the 20^th minute our team were able to increase the lead. Odjidja played in a high ball to Radović, who was waiting in the penalty box, after winning a one-on-one battle with the defender he scored to make it 2:0!

Further on in the half a great situation fell for Vako Qazaishvili, who with a confident dribble, broke into Górnik’s penalty box only to complete the attack with an inaccurate shot. Near the end, Thibault Moulin attempted a fierce shot from outside of the box but the ball just flew over the goal. The Militarians left for the break with a confident two goal lead, but unsatisfied as they felt that they deserved more.

The second half continued in the same way as the first. The Legionnaires kept most of the possession and calmly built up their attacks. In the 55^th minute a dangerous clash between Michał Kopczyński and Gerson happened within Górnik’s penalty box. Both players had to be bandaged up off the pitch. The Militarians made the most of this distraction. Radović phenomenally played Nikolić in on goal, with a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, he confidently took his chance and increased the score to 3:0!

Being the player he is, two goals at the end of the year was not enough for him. In the 78^th minute Odjidja handed the ball to Nikolić who was 16 meters away from goal, and with complete confidence, directing the ball into the right-hand corner of the goal. 4:0, hat-trick! Moments later the forward was replaced by Sebastian Szymański. The whole stadium chanted loudly “Niko” and “We thank you”; the evidently moved Hungarian said his farewell to the fans by showing an “L”. It is worth noting that thanks to those goals, Nikolić will finish out the year as the top scorer in the LOTTO Ekstraklasa!

The Legionnaires seemed to have got used to the idea of scoring five goals after the game against Gliwice, as in the dying seconds of the game Kasper Hamalainen made it 5:0! And with that 2016 was finished by Legia in style! Thank you, Chaps!

Legia Warsaw - Górnik Łęczna 5:0 (2:0)

Goals: Nikolić 5', 58', 78', Radović 20', Hamalainen 90'