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After the last match of the first round of the A League, in which the Vilnius team "Vėtra" defeated the "Šiauliai" club at home with a score of 2-1, the head coach of the capital's club, Aleksandras Tarchanovas, stated that the hosts had the initiative and controlled the course of the game almost throughout the match, until the "Vėtra" goalkeeper was sent off.
"Until the sending off, our advantage was obvious. After removing the goalkeeper and substituting a forward, the situation became more difficult. Although they were not allowed to create opportunities, even a penalty kick from eleven meters was saved by Karčemarskas, but we probably celebrated it too long and quickly conceded a goal," said A. Tarchanovas.
"When the main goalkeeper Žutautas got injured and we had to field Valinčius, who hadn't even played for the reserves, what were your thoughts at that moment?" asked the official "Vėtra" website to A. Tarchanovas.
"I had seen our young goalkeeper in training, he stands quite confidently. He didn't make any mistakes today. He got sent off due to lack of experience. He is only 18 years old and has never played at such a level before, so such a mistake can be forgiven. When Karčemarskas stood in goal, somewhere deep inside I felt that he would save the penalty kick (laughs). Donatas Vencevičius, who was standing nearby, also said: "Karčė will save it."
"The situation with the goalkeepers is worse than you could imagine. Who will guard the goal in the next match against "Vilnius"?
"We are still waiting for Stanislav Kozyrev, who is awaiting permission to live and play in Lithuania. Now we will try in every possible way to expedite the resolution of this issue, as we are left without goalkeepers - two injured, one disqualified.
"Other players have started scoring goals - Juška, Karčemarskas, are you satisfied with the team's attack?
"We still have a lot of problems in attack. We create chances, but it is difficult to convert them. We lack expertise in the crucial attacking phase, where all that's left is to shoot accurately at the goal. For example, at the end of the match, when Panka was in the penalty area just a few meters away from the goal, he hesitated to shoot. He should have shot, but instead passed to a teammate in a worse position. We need to convert more chances."
