Zagłębie Lubin beat bottom-of-the-table Raków Częstochowa 3-2 in a dramatic Ekstraklasa match that stretched past the 100th minute and featured a disputed equaliser, a red card and a late VAR review.
Raków coach Tomasz Kaczmarek said after the game that he wanted an explanation for the goal that brought Zagłębie level at 1-1, scored by Michał Nalepa. Some observers believed that before the goal, Zagłębie's Roman Jakuba had handled the ball.
Kaczmarek said he had great respect for the referees' work but would like to know why the goal had been allowed to stand. He said his team had to play in a way that no controversy could affect them, adding that Raków could have scored to make it 2-0.
His comments were reported on X by Kamil Głębocki of the football outlet Na Wylot TV.
VAR checks and a red card
Referee Daniel Stefański turned to VAR twice during the match, once for Nalepa's goal and again in the closing stages, when he reviewed a handball by Zagłębie's Michalis Kosidis inside his own penalty area.
Kaczmarek said his Raków side had to play football and that the players needed to know what to do and to have confidence, adding that the difference between a confident and an unconfident player was huge, and that today it had been there. He said that even after the red card, his team kept trying to win and did not give up, acknowledging that Częstochowa had been chasing all three points. He was described as the coach of the Medaliki, the nickname for Raków supporters that comes from the religious medallions sold near Częstochowa's Jasna Góra monastery, one of Poland's most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites.
Bottom of the table
Raków's situation is not good. After eight matches, the club has just three points and sits at the bottom of the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top football division.
Raków will play away against Korona Kielce on Saturday, September 19, and already know they will most likely spend the international break in the relegation zone.
