Lech Poznań 1-1 Sunderland in Europa League group game as Tutierov and Bengtsson trade early strikes
Sunderland drew 1-1 with Lech Poznań at Stadion Poznań in a UEFA Europa League 2026-27 group-stage fixture on October 22, 2026, with Timur Tutierov opening the scoring in the second minute and Leo Bengtsson levelling in the 70th minute.
Regis Le Bris named a heavily changed Sunderland side after the club’s 2-0 Premier League defeat to Bournemouth, making six alterations to his starting XI; only Kevin Danso, Robin Roefs, Nordi Mukiele, Granit Xhaka and Timur Tutierov kept their places. Lech Poznań arrived having suffered back-to-back 4-0 losses in the competition and began the match at the bottom of the table.
The visitors struck inside two minutes when goalkeeper Mateusz Lis played a short pass that was intercepted by Nilson Angulo; Angulo’s cross was headed into the net by Timur Tutierov. It marked the first goal for the Ukrainian striker, with the opening finish capitalising on the Poznań goalkeeper’s misplaced pass.
Sunderland dominated possession and generated a heavy stream of attempts, recording 14 shots in the first half with eight on target and a total of 25 shots by full-time, 11 of them on target. The report classified three of the first-half opportunities as ‘big chances’; Nilson Angulo provided the assist for the opener, Luke O’Nien marshalled the defence, and Habib Diarra and Malick Fofana were lively in the opening period.
Malick Fofana’s recent continental form continued to lag behind his earlier Europa League record: he had scored six goals and registered one assist in his first eight matches in the tournament but, according to the report, had failed to register a single goal contribution in his last eight continental games. Tonight he had several attempts, including a couple on target, but was unable to beat Mateusz Lis.
Lech Poznań fashioned several clear chances of their own before the equaliser; Patrik Wålemark was denied by Robin Roefs on an early opportunity, Antoni Kozubal missed a point-blank header that the report said “should have levelled the score,” and Leo Bengtsson finally found a low strike in the 70th minute to make it 1-1. Michał Gurgul then had a chance to put Lech ahead but was denied by Roefs.
Niels Frederiksen will be disappointed to have dropped two points tonight, while the draw represented an immediate response from a side that had started the match at the bottom of the group table.
The 1-1 result on October 22, 2026, handed Lech Poznań their first points of this season’s Europa League campaign, and Sunderland left Poland with a single point despite creating 25 efforts and 11 on target.
