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The first tournament match on Thursday ended with Liepaja's "Metalurgs" defeating "TVMK" with a score of 2-0, so on Saturday in the match for the right to be called the strongest Baltic team, "Ekranas" will clash with the Latvian champions who play at home, coached by Benjaminas Zelkevičius who has five Lithuanian players in his team.
Tallinn "TVMK" 4 - 6 Panevėžio
8' [1 - 0] Nikolai Mashitshev
41' [1 - 1] Egidijus Varnas
55' [1 - 2] Povilas Lukšys
58' [1 - 3] Donatas Petrauskas
61' [2 - 3] Nikolai Mashitshev
64' [2 - 4] Mantas Savėnas (11m.)
67' [3 - 4] Tarmo Neemelo
69' [3 - 5] Vitalijus Kavaliauskas
75' [3 - 6] Vitalijus Kavaliauskas (11m.)
77' [4 - 6] Viktors Dobrecovs
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Gardzijauskas, Klimavičius, Jagminas (80' Banevičius), Mihalčuks; Kavaliauskas (90' Petrauskas), Savėnas (70' Šlekys), Tomkevičius (78' Saulėnas), Varnas (55' Petrauskas); Pogreban (63' Kučys), Lukšys
In this match, "Ekranas" had to play without goalkeeper Paulius Grybauskas, who suffered a shoulder injury during "A lyga" matches, and defender Gediminas Paulauskas, who suffered a leg injury during training. Therefore, the Panevėžys team had to start the match with two nominal defenders - Arūnas Klimavičius and Dainius Jagminas, recently signed from "Vilnius". Meanwhile, in the ranks of "TVMK," Lithuanian defender Tomas Rimas stepped onto the field.
Already in the second minute, "Ekranas" was very close to scoring a goal, when Povilas Lukšys shook the Estonian goalpost with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area after a wall pass with Mantas Savėnas, but it was the Tallinn footballers who took the lead - in the 8th minute, 17-year-old Nikolai Mashitshev curled the ball into the corner of the goal from 20 meters.
In the 16th minute, A. Skrupskis made a great save to deny a second goal after a powerful shot from Kert Haavistu, and "Ekranas" responded with A. Klimavičius' header, Ruslan Mihalčuks's penalty shot, and a counterattack by Mantas Savėnas, which was saved by goalkeeper Antonas Trifonovas. However, the Panevėžys club gradually took the initiative and just before the end of the first half, after receiving the ball from M. Savėnas, Egidijus Varnas leveled the score with a precise shot.
The second half started even more actively for Virginijus Liubšys' proteges, and although E. Varnas' shot was off target and M. Savėnas' attempt was thwarted, P. Lukšys headed the ball into the net after V. Kavaliauskas' pass from the corner, increasing Panevėžys' lead.
"Ekranas" pushed forward and completely besieged the opponents' goal - first V. Kavaliauskas hit the crossbar, then A. Trifonovas saved P. Lukšys' shot, in the 58th minute M. Savėnas made a precise pass into the penalty area, where Donatas Petrauskas, who recently appeared on the field after a substitution, scored with a header, increasing the advantage for the Panevėžys team.
However, this was just the beginning of the goal "rain". Although Andris Kuvšinovs hit the crossbar, the Estonian hopes were given a boost by "Ekranas" goalkeeper A. Skrupskis, who failed to catch a pass from N. Mašitševo, allowing him to score. After "Ekranas" switched to an offensive mode, the opponents' goalkeeper was saved from D. Petrauskas' goal by the crossbar, but in the 64th minute, "TVMK" defenders fouled M. Savėnas in the penalty area and he converted the penalty to restore Panevėžys' two-goal lead.
That lead lasted only three minutes - in the 67th minute, after a scramble in the "Ekranas" defense, A. Skrupskis managed to block a one-on-one shot from the opponents, but as the attack continued, "TVMK" attacking leader Tarmo Neemelo sent the ball into the net from a sharp angle. A minute later, the Estonian defensive barriers crumbled, as V. Kavaliauskas, deceiving two opponents, entered the penalty area and scored the fifth goal for the Lithuanian champions.
Actively playing in the 75th minute, V. Kavaliauskas was brought down in the penalty area by T. Rimas, and the Panevėžys player took the penalty himself and converted it - the score became 6-3 in favor of "Ekranas". But the Estonian team managed to bring back the intrigue once again - after receiving an accurate long pass, Latvian legionnaire Viktoras Dobrecovas sent the ball into the corner of the goal without stopping it, bringing the result to 6-4.
At the end of the match, the Estonians launched a final assault on the opponents' goal, but no more goals were scored, and "Ekranas" achieved not only a victory, but also an important two-goal lead, which means that in order to become the winners of the Baltic Cup, they would only need a draw in the match against "Metalurgs" on Saturday.
