Europa League - WKS win 1:0 against FC Brugge

Brugge were certainly the favourites before kick off, but it was the home-side who performed better in the opening 45 minutes, with Paixao and Sobota forcing Brugge goalkeeper Matthew Ryan into making two fine saves. The Belgians had their opportunities too however, and looked perfectly composed throughout the first half.

The 2nd half followed a similar pattern to the first, with Śląsk on the attack and Brugge looking to counter effectively. There was a scare for WKS in the 51st minute when Gikiewicz was forced into action, palming away a through ball that then fell into the path of Refaelov, who could only fire into the side netting when the goal was gaping. Ten minutes later WKS came even closer to taking the lead, as Sebino Plaku's powerful drive from outside the box was pushed round the post by Ryan. 

Plaku didn't have to wait long for his next chance however, as just four minutes later he was given a golden opportunity by Przemysław Kaźmierczak, who had played him through on goal superbly. Many strikers would bottle such a chance under the pressure, but Plaku showed tremendous skill, composure and nerve to cheekily chip the ball over the keeper and give WKS the lead. 

The Belgians knew the importance of an away goal and did all they could to turn the tide back in their favour following Sebino's opener. In the 78th minute they came within a whisker of getting back in it when Tom De Sutter had a clear sight of goal in the box. A tremendous save by Gikiewicz thwarted his attempt however, preserving WKS' one goal advantage. 

In the closing moments the game became increasingly stretched, with chances at both ends keeping the fans in the Municipal Stadium on tenterhooks. Mila and Patejuk both had opportunites to nick a 2nd goal for Śląsk, but in the end Wrocław had to settle for 1-0 lead. 

Having kept a clean sheet and avoided gifting Brugge an away goal, Śląsk will now have every confidence they can build on this result and win the tie outright. The fans will have high hopes for next Thursday's 2nd leg too, especially after tonight's 5 star performance. The player's can't afford to fast forward that far however, as Wrocław's next fixture is against Wisła Kraków in the Ekstraklasa on Sunday.

 Śląsk Wrocław - Club Brugge 1:0 (0:0)

Goal: Plaku 64

Śląsk: Gikiewicz - Ostrowski (60 Socha), Pawelec, Kokoszka, Dudu, Kaźmierczak, Stevanović, Plaku, Mila, Sobota, Paixao (88 Patejuk).

Brugge: Ryan - Hogli, Duarte, Mechele, De Bock (46 Bolingoli-Mbombo), Simons, Blondel, Wang (78 Dierckx), Verstraete, Refaelov (65 Gudjohnsen), De Sutter.

Yellow cards: Stevanović, Plaku - De Bock, Hogli.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.

Fans: 17 134.

Written by Gregor Gowans of wroclawuncut.com