Wisła Kraków drew 0-0 away to Widzew Łódź. The White Star created many scoring chances but failed to tip the balance in its favor. After the match, coach Mariusz Jop assessed his team’s performance at a press conference and commented on the missed chances, refereeing decisions, and the squad situation.

Assessment of the match

“I’d like to congratulate the team because, from my perspective, we played a very good match today. Of course, we didn’t score, but in terms of how we worked and how the match unfolded, we’re very pleased with it. Still, we see it as dropping two points. I think that of the away matches we’ve played, this was by far the one in which we came closest to taking all three points. The xG stats of 2.5 to 0.6 speak for themselves. But sometimes that’s how it goes; we also have to appreciate this one point, because it will certainly matter in the final reckoning. I’m pleased that we kept a clean sheet and with how many chances we created. As I said at the start, we lacked the finishing touch - the execution,” said coach Mariusz Jop.

Comparison with previous away matches and disappointment at the draw

“I think this match was more under control in terms of what was happening on the pitch. In Gliwice, it was a bit of a footballing ping-pong match with lots of goals, whereas here we had more control, both on and off the ball. The opposition didn’t create many chances, so the big disparity in the xG figures shows that we were the better team in many phases, and there’s definitely a lot of disappointment. As I said before, this was the away match in which we came closest to taking all three points,” admitted the Wisła coach.

Second consecutive match without scoring

“Yes, as I said, we lacked the finishing touch, but compared with the previous match, we created far more chances, so we’re heading in the right direction,” the coach noted.

Bozić’s absence from the matchday squad

During the press conference, a question was also asked about one player’s absence from the squad for the match against Widzew.

“It’s a consequence of the last match against Legia - a health issue,” Mariusz Jop explained.

Assessing Wisła’s performance against Widzew

“I wouldn’t say it was easy. I think Widzew have a lot of very good players. Of course, I know it’s not easy to show your full potential when your mental state is affected, because we know what the expectations are here and what pressure these players are under. You could hear that from the stands at one point today, too. We knew, though, that this would work in our favor and that Widzew’s players might grow increasingly nervous. I don’t think it was easy or that we had a particularly easy time of it. We simply followed much of our game plan today and played the way we wanted to attack, finding players with time and space. So I see it more as us playing a very good match than Widzew playing a very poor one,” the coach said.

Refereeing controversies and interpretation of the rules

The coach was also asked about the referees’ decisions, including the penalty awarded in the match and differences in how similar situations have been interpreted in successive Ekstraklasa matches.

“All we can do is speak openly about it, because decisions aren’t in the clubs’ hands anyway. But I think there’s a nuance, a difference between the two situations, because today the ball was going toward the goal. That’s different from the situation you’re referring to, which involved blocking a cross in the previous round. So I think that’s a significant nuance. The ball was going toward the goal. If the player hadn’t stuck out his arm, it might have gone straight in, so I think this was a somewhat different situation. That said, I agree that there’s been a lot of discussion about refereeing lately, and as coaches, we’d simply like to know how certain situations are interpreted and for that interpretation to be consistent for everyone. That’s probably the most important thing, because right now we’re not entirely sure ourselves. The question is whether the referees are entirely sure either, because we’ve also heard that the refereeing community is somewhat divided at the moment and that there’s a lot of friction,” he said.

Surprise at Widzew’s starting lineup

The final question concerned changes to the home side’s starting lineup due to Garcia’s absence and Kapuadi playing on the left side of defense.

“It was somewhat of a surprise, because at first we saw six central defenders. But we also understood the decision: Kapuadi, playing on the left, is a player with great pace and speed. Widzew also tried to catch us one-on-one when playing out from the back, and that gave them greater security when playing balls in behind. We know Marcel can do that, and I think it was a logical decision. But it was a surprise,” Mariusz Jop concluded.