Mariusz Jop after #WISCRA: I'm also glad that we showed maturity.
Damian Urbaniec
Wisła Kraków defeated Cracovia 2:1 in the Great Kraków Derby! After the match, coach Mariusz Jop assessed the team's performance, the course of the game, and the key moments in the derby victory.
A derby victory and the team's maturity
“I congratulate the team, because today was certainly a difficult match. You could call it a classic derby match, with a lot of fighting. The ball was often up in the air. There were plenty of duels and provocations. I'm also glad that we showed maturity in many of those situations, because we didn't let ourselves be provoked, and you could see that our opponents lost their cool at certain moments. So I'm glad that in this respect we showed a certain level of maturity, which is also connected to a certain level of footballing class. Congratulations once again. I'm very happy that after such a long break, we won this classic fixture,” coach Mariusz Jop began.
The Wisła Kraków coach also praised the fans, who supported the team from the stands throughout the match.
“Congratulations to the fans on the fantastic display and wonderful support. It definitely helped us a lot in today's match, because there were times when we had to defend for a little longer. There was one such moment in the second half. So thank you very much, and congratulations once again,” he stressed.
The course of the second half
One of the main topics at the press conference was Wisła's performance after the break. The hosts defended their lead for an extended period, while Cracovia had more of the ball. However, Mariusz Jop stressed that sitting back was not part of the pre-match plan.
“No, absolutely not. The plan wasn't to sit back and wait for counterattacks. No, that's not our style. At halftime, we told ourselves to approach the second half as if the score were still 0:0 and simply try to play our game. However, we have to admit that a few times we failed to keep possession during the transition phase. That was something we were missing. We also knew that Cracovia is quite good in the final third. They can build an attack from a settled possession,” the coach explained.
The coach also commented on the match statistics, noting that the opponents' longer spells of possession did not translate into many clear-cut scoring chances.
“However, if we look at the xG, including xG created without set pieces, Cracovia's figure was 0.15, so
Mariusz Jop after #WISCRA: I'm also glad that we showed maturity.