Legia live on after Midtjylland success
Thursday, November 26, 2015
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Legia 1-0 Midtjylland
Aleksandar Prijovic's impressive header on 35 minutes means the trail is not quite cold for the Polish side in Group D.
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- Legia maintain a theoretical chance of reaching the round of 32
- Aleksandar Prijovic on target for the third successive game in all competitions
- Stanislav Cherchesov's team make all the running in Warsaw
- Nemanja Nikolić comes close to scoring a show-stopping second for Legia
- Final Group D games: Midtjylland v Club Brugge, Napoli v Legia Warszawa (10 December)
A 1-0 victory against Midtylland combined with Napoli's success at Club Brugge means the Polish club are still just about in contention for a top-two finish in UEFA Europa League Group D.
Stanislav Cherchesov's side showed more energy from first to last, winning a flurry of corners early on, and making the decisive breakthrough on 35 minutes when Aleksandar Prijovic met Igor Lewczuk's cross with a fantastic header.
Midtjylland defended very deep in the opening period, but came out of their shell a little more after the interval, getting a first meaningful shot on goal on 54 minutes. Daniel Royer's snap shot caused problems for Arkadiusz Malarz, who was standing in for Dušan Kuciak in the Legia goal.
Stojan Vranjes fired a free-kick wide in response, and while Midtjylland fashioned a decent chance later – Awer Mabil hitting a powerful shot well over the Legia crossbar – last season's Polish league runners-up should have put the game beyond them, Lewczuk and Ivan Tričkovski going close.
However, the only real regret for Legia fans may be that Nemanja Nikolić's audacious back-heel from Bartosz Bereszyński's 89th-minute ball from the right went just wide. It could have been a goal-of-the-season contender.
Legia's exit strategy
The Polish team's position is not quite impossible. If they are to make the round of 32 on matchday six, they must first beat section leaders Napoli – the lone side in the group stage with a 100% record – in Italy. Then they need Midtjylland's match against Club Brugge to end in a draw. If that happens, they will finish level with the Danish champions on seven points with an identical head-to-head record, but Legia will be second by virtue of a better goal difference.
Prijović's proud moment
Swiss forward Aleksandar Prijovic has been in the shadow of strike partner Nikolić in the Ekstraklasa, netting two goals to the Hungarian's 16. Indeed 'NiGOALić' is the domestic division's top scorer, though he has failed to find the target in Group D. So it fell to Prijovic to claim what was Legia's second goal in the section, the 25-year-old having also netted in the 1-0 weekend win against Śląsk Wrocław.
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