GKS Katowice came from behind to beat Hapoel Tel Aviv 2:1 in the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round on Tuesday. The victory in Katowice levels the two-legged tie after the Israeli side had taken an aggregate lead from their 2:0 win just six days earlier. And here's the thing — it was the sort of match where one moment decides everything.
Hapoel struck first when Stav Turiel latched onto a loose ball inside the box and finished coolly at the twenty-third minute. The visitors dominated possession early and looked comfortable, but GKS gradually found their rhythm. To be fair, the hosts never panicked, even when the away side threatened on the counter.
The turning point came in the second half. GKS brought on Mateusz Wedrychowski and Bartosz Nowak together at the seventy-first minute, and the fresh legs changed the game. Ilya Shkurin equalised at eighty-three minutes, heading home from a corner that had been building pressure all evening. By then the momentum had shifted decisively.
Adrian Jedrych converted a penalty at the ninety-minute mark to complete the turnaround. The hosts played the second half a man up in spirit if not in numbers, and they refused to go away. It was a result that felt longer in the making than the ninety minutes suggested.
GKS registered 76 attacks against 54 for Hapoel, with seven shots on target compared to three. Their 67 per cent possession told the story of who controlled territory, though the visitors made their limited chances count. Shots accuracy sat at 0.50 for the hosts versus 0.27 for the away side.
This result puts GKS on the brink of a move into the next round. They had not won since their match against Radomiak on August second, and now they have turned the tie around. Cup football has its own rules — and tonight, Katowice played by them.