Disappointment after a hard-fought battle in Zabrze

Sunday’s PKO BP Ekstraklasa classic at Roosevelta Street brought enormous excitement, but unfortunately it did not bring us the points we desperately wanted. Although our players created promising chances and played with a one-man advantage for more than half an hour, we return to Kraków with a deep sense of disappointment and regret over the missed opportunities.

Post by Damian Urbaniec
2026-08-17
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Fot. Bartek Ziółkowski
Sunday’s PKO BP Ekstraklasa classic at Roosevelta Street brought huge excitement, but unfortunately it did not bring us the points we desired. Although our players created some promising chances and played with a one-man advantage for more than half an hour, we return to Kraków empty-handed.

The match was evenly contested from the opening minutes. Wisła started bravely, trying to impose their style of play. In the 10th minute, Jordi Sánchez came close to delighting the White Star fans, but after his superb header, the home goalkeeper, Philipp Schulze, produced an excellent save on the line. Górnik survived our team’s pressure and managed to open the scoring in the 27th minute following a set piece — after Kacper Urbański’s cross and a deflection, Lukas Sadilek emerged with the ball amid considerable confusion and struck the post before finding the back of our net. Wisła immediately searched for a response, building composed attacks from their own penalty area. Just before the break, Ángel Rodado found himself in an excellent position after a clever backheel from Sánchez, but his shot narrowly missed the target. We went into the dressing room one goal down, although the course of the game suggested that a draw was well within our reach.

The second half began with incredible excitement and controversy. In the 49th minute, Maxence Maisonneuve fouled an opponent just outside the penalty area and was shown a yellow card, while Maksym Chłań converted the resulting free kick to score the hosts’ second goal.

Mariusz Jop’s players nevertheless showed real character and immediately set about reducing the deficit. Just two minutes later, following a dynamic cross from Jakub Krzyżanowski, the ball struck the Górnik crossbar, and Jordi Sánchez showed remarkable instinct in the penalty area, pouncing on the rebound to score a goal that brought Wisła back into the game! It was another goal in the PKO BP Ekstraklasa this season for the Spanish striker. Moments later, the hosts suffered another blow — in the 56th minute, Sondre Liseth was shown a second yellow card following a foul, and Górnik had to play with ten men.

The final half-hour was marked by clear domination from Wisła, who pushed their opponents deep into defence and searched for an equaliser. The players from Zabrze defended intelligently, however, and methodically ran down the clock. Our best chance to rescue a point came in the 89th minute, but following a cross, Alan Uryga headed just over the crossbar. Despite the pressure late on, we were unable to turn the game in our favour. 

Górnik Zabrze - Wisła Kraków 2:1 (1:0)
Lukas Sadilek 27', Maksym Chłań 53' - Jordi Sánchez 55'

Górnik: Schulze - Bernardo (60' Bochniewicz), Sadilek, Federico (61' Dimi), Josema (78' Janża), Zmrzlý (78' Janża), Liseth, Janicki, Chłań (90' Dietz), Sacek (90' Michal), Urbański (78' Prekop).
Coach: Michal Gašparík.

Wisła: Łubik - Lelieveld, Uryga, Ertlthaler, Rodado, Duarte (86 Youan), Sánchez, Maisonneuve, Bozić (72' Kuziemka), Duda (72' Igbekeme), Krzyżanowski (89' Mikulec).
Coach: Mariusz Jop.

Yellow cards: Liseth (36', 56'), Federico (76') - Ertlthaler (12'), Duda (21'), Uryga (26'), Maisonneuve (49').
Red card: Liseth (56' - for a second yellow).
📸 Fot. Bartek Ziółkowski