Piast Gliwice beat Radomiak Radom 2-0 on Monday, extending their winning run in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top football division, to three consecutive matches. Goals from Hugo Vallejo and Jakub Łabojko settled the contest at Radomiak's home ground on Struga Street in Radom.
The result lifted Piast to fifth place in the table with 13 points, though the Gliwice side could still be overtaken by several teams that have games in hand. Radomiak stayed 14th with eight points, and the defeat came in new head coach Rafał Grzyb's first match in charge of the club.
Piast almost broke through inside the first minute, when Leandro Sanca, set up by Samuel Ntamack, a forward from Guinea-Bissau, shot wide of the far post with his left foot. Radomiak responded in the sixth minute, when Ronaldo Lumungo squared the ball to former Poland international Rafał Wolski, only for the effort to be blocked by goalkeeper Domen Gril. Moments later, the Slovenian keeper also denied a powerful strike from Lumungo himself.
Piast Gliwice's Recent Form
Piast, managed by Daniel Myśliwiec, arrived at the match in excellent form. The Gliwice club had drawn 1-1 with Legia Warszawa, beaten Motor Lublin 2-0 and thrashed GKS Katowice 3-0 in their previous league fixtures, and had also knocked Chemik Bydgoszcz out of the Polish Cup with a 3-0 win.
Chances continued at both ends. Quentin Boisgard lost possession in his own penalty area, but Guilherme Luiz fired the resulting opportunity over the crossbar for Radomiak.
Vallejo Strikes Before Half-Time
The first half stayed goalless until stoppage time, when Sanca found Vallejo. The Spaniard drove forward with the ball for several dozen metres, dribbled past Kryspin Szcześniak and finished confidently past goalkeeper Filip Majchrowicz to put Piast ahead in the 45th-plus-first minute.
Łabojko Penalty Doubles the Lead
Gril made a fine save early in the second half, tipping away a header from Luiz. Radomiak kept pushing for an equaliser but instead fell further behind in the 65th minute, when Filip Koperski fouled Łabojko inside the penalty area. Łabojko himself took the resulting penalty and beat Majchrowicz under the crossbar to make it 2-0 in the 67th minute.
Substitute Szczepan Mucha almost pulled one back in the 73rd minute, but his effort was well saved by Majchrowicz. Lumungo then wasted a good chance in the 81st minute, and Gril produced another important save in stoppage time to keep out a dangerous shot from Che Nunelly.
Cards and Officials
Koperski was booked for Radomiak, while Piast's Bartosz Lewicki also received a yellow card. The match was refereed by Tomasz Marciniak of Płock.
