Legia maintain perfect start with Metalist scalp
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Article summary
FC Metalist Kharkiv 0-1 Legia Warszawa
Ondrej Duda's first-half effort earned the Group L leaders their third straight 1-0 victory after both teams also missed a penalty in Ukraine.
Article top media content
Article body
• Ondrej Duda scores only goal as both sides miss spot kicks in second half
• Legia top of Group L after third consecutive 1-0 success
• Polish champions have won five of last six European away games
• Metalist captain Edmar makes 50th UEFA club competition appearance
• Next matches: Lokeren v Trabzonspor, Legia v Metalist (6 November)
Ondrej Duda's first-half strike in Kyiv proved enough to see off FC Metalist Kharkiv as Legia Warszawa extended their perfect Group L record with a third consecutive 1-0 win.
The hosts, who had not conceded in two previous meetings with Polish opponents, fell behind after 28 minutes to a wonderful goal from the Slovak midfielder as Henning Berg's team made the perfect start. Duda evaded two challenges before finishing in style after collecting a pass from Michał Kucharczyk.
Legia, who had already won twice as many matches as they did in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage prior to kick-off, had the first opportunity through Orlando Sá but the forward fired wide in the 17th minute.
Seven minutes later, the Ukrainian side responded with a shot from distance from Oleg Krasnopyorov. Jajá also saw his left-footed effort blocked inside the box as Metalist threatened to take the lead but it would be the the visitors – and Duda – that made the breakthrough moments later.
Sá missed the chance to double the advantage six minutes from the interval, failing to connect with a pull-back from Jakub Kosecki. The Legia attacker also blazed across the face of goal as the Ekstraklasa champions dominated the early exchanges of the second half.
Visiting captain Ivica Vrdoljak wasted the invitation to seal victory on 52 minutes, his spot kick being superbly saved by Olexandr Goryainov after Ayila Yussuf handled in the area. Igor Rakhaiev's team then squandered their opportunity to level from the spot when Jajá's tame penalty was kept out by Dušan Kuciak. Kosecki was also off target in added time when clean through but Legia were able to hold on for another narrow win.
