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The trophy of the Lithuanian Football Federation Cup is traveling to Vilnius after a nine-year break. On Sunday, in the 2011/12 season LFF Cup final, Vilnius MFD "Žalgiris" defeated Panevėžys "Ekranas" after a penalty shootout. The main and extra time ended in a draw 0:0.
Comments after the match:
"Žalgiris" head coach Damiras Petravičius: "I am very happy that 'Žalgiris' won and secured the first title for the team in Vilnius after a nine-year break from winning the cup. Today we fought against the champions, but we showed that 'Žalgiris' also has very good players.
In the first half, both teams demonstrated good football. However, playing every three days, it is hard for the players to maintain such a pace. Therefore, in the second half and extra time, the game slowed down due to fatigue. Nevertheless, I think the match was interesting for the spectators."
"Žalgiris" defender Andrius Skerla: "There were a lot of emotions, but this is a final. The match was tough, we had to play extra time and take penalties. However, the team handled the task excellently. Yesterday, I already felt that if there are penalties, we will 'buy' that lucky ticket. I had no doubt that we would win if it came to a shootout.
I have never had to take penalties in a final before. As much as I played in finals - whether in the Netherlands, Poland, Scotland, or Lithuania - everything was decided within 90 minutes. There is always a first time, and at the end of my career, I found out what that means.
I think this trophy means a lot to the club. This was evident from the joy of the fans. After a long break, the cup will come to Vilnius. It is a great joy for everyone.
There is not much time to celebrate, as we have very important match with 'Ekranas' coming up on Friday. If we want to fight for higher than second place, we have to be breathing down their necks. We cannot let them go."
Match statistics
Marijampolė's "Arvi" Football Arena, 3000 spectators Referee - Gediminas Mažeika (Kaunas) Vilnius MFD "Žalgiris" - Panevėžys "Ekranas" 0:0 after extra time, penalty shootout 3:1 Yellow cards: 83 min. E.Vaitkūnas ("Žalgiris"); 56 min. G.Tomkevičius, 70 min. M.Samusiovas, 98 min. Y.Urdinov, 116 min. V.Kavaliauskas ("Ekranas")
Penalty shootout: P.Komolovas (1:0), R.Radavičius (miss), A.Skerla (2:0), A.Kučys (miss), M.Grgurovičius (miss), V.Kavaliauskas (2:1), M.Kuklys (3:1), Y.Urdinov (miss).
"Žalgiris": Armantas Vitkauskas, Egidijus Vaitkūnas (90+1 min. Karolis Urbaitis), Andrius Skerla, Luka Peričius, Georgas Freidgeimas, Vaidotas Šilėnas, Andrejus Nagumanovas (87 min. Mario Grgurovičius), Mantas Kuklys, Pavelas Komolovas, Tomislavas Pekas, Calumas Elliotas. Substitutes: Marius Rapalis, Jaunius Juozaitis, Arminas Vaskela, Raimondas Vilėniškis, Donatas Kazlauskas.
"Ekranas": Emilijus Zubas, Yani Urdinovas, Ignas Dedura, Mantas Samusiovas, Giedrius Tomkevičius, Ramūnas Radavičius, Marko Andelkovičius (41 min. Aurimas Vertelis), Aurimas Kučys, Vytautas Lukša, Uchenna Umehas (112 min. Vitalijus Kavaliauskas), Adama Fofana (86 min. Egidijus Varnas). Substitutes: Tadas Kauneckas, Dovydas Norvilas, Tadas Markevičius, Arnas Ribokas."
