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Points were shared by last year's A Lyga runners-up, Panevėžys Ekranas, who met Marijampolė's Sūduva at home. Although the hosts took the lead after Vitalijus Kavaliauskas' goal, they couldn't hold on to the lead and Sūduva equalized, taking a point with them.
Panevėžys Aukštaitija Stadium, 1155 spectators Referee - Paulius Malžinskas Panevėžys 1 - 1 Marijampolė 50' [1 - 0] Vitalijus Kavaliauskas 78' [1 - 1] Sergiy Kozyuberda
Ekranas: Bogdan Stefanovič; Laurynas Rimavičius, Gediminas Paulauskas, Alfredas Skroblas, Linas Klimavičius; Dominykas Galkevičius (61' Sergej Pogreban), Andrius Šidlauskas (46' Mantas Savėnas), Deimantas Bička, Giedrius Tomkevičius; Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, Povilas Lukšys
Sūduva: Saulius Klevinskas; Aleksandr Sobol, Vaidas Slavickas, Tomas Mikuckis, Marius Skinderis; Darius Maciulevičius (66' Nerijus Mačiulis), Karolis Jasaitis (74' Giedrius Slavickas), Tomas Miklinevičius, Sergiy Kozyuberda; Willer Souza Oliveira, Otavio Augusto Braga (12' Gvidas Juška)
According to the official Sūduva website, the opponents have known each other for a long time, but there have been many changes between the teams during the seasons, which most likely resulted in a lack of sharp moments in the first half of the game. Sūduva suffered an early loss when forward Otavio Braga got injured in the beginning of the match and was replaced by Gvidas Juška.
In the second half, with team captain Mantas Savėnas on the field for the hosts, Ekranas' actions intensified. While the hosts controlled the midfield for some time, the main engine of Panevėžys' attacks was M.Savėnas. Sūduva successfully defended for a while.
However, in the 50th minute, Ekranas surged ahead - the ball was lifted into the Sūduva penalty area, and after an unsuccessful play by Saulius Klevinskas, the ball came to Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, who directed the ball into the Sūduva net amidst a crowd of players.
The end of the match was determined by Brazilian Willer Oliveira's breakthrough almost from midfield and jewel-like pass to S.Koziuberda. The latter, finding himself one-on-one with the hosts' goalkeeper, didn't miss his chance and scored his second goal in this year's championship. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
As reported on the official Ekranas website, following the match, Sūduva head coach Algimantas Gabrys is happy with the point won, although he admitted that the game was not particularly beautiful.
"Our players are not yet recovered from the last match against Vėtra. Leading players feel fatigue, especially in the forward line," said the coach, acknowledging that "Ekranas" had the initiative throughout the match, but failed to stop Sūduva at the right moments, thus allowing them to equalize the score.
Ekranas head coach Saulius Širmelis regretted that his team failed to secure the planned victory at home.
"In the last five minutes, you need to play according to the current result rather than trying to play very beautifully. It is important to maintain what you have. Unfortunately, we couldn't do that," said the coach after the not so successful end of the match.
Team captain Mantas Savėnas, who only entered the game in the second half after an injury in the match against Vilnius.
"Although he is not yet able to play the full match or even the entire half, the captain's appearance was a strong support for the team," said S. Širmelis, who also expressed joy that Sergejus Pogrebanas, who had just entered the field, made a successful pass, but at the same time spoke sadly about the possibilities of injured players joining the team quickly.
"Our bench is very short. Almost at the same time, we lost two defenders who joined the team this season. Legionnaire Taavi Rahn has already gone to Estonia for treatment, so he won't be able to play anytime soon. Dainius Gleveckas only had his hand removed from a cast yesterday. He won't be able to help his team for another 2-3 weeks - he faces a rehabilitation period, emotional problems, and the fear of falling or relying on his healed hand," said the Ekranas coach about the injuries.
