© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, there was a match in the "A Lyga" championship. In the last match of the 24th round, last year's champion, Panevėžio "Ekranas," inspired by a successful performance in the Baltic Cup competition, defeated "Vilnius" after two goals by Mantas Savėnas, increasing their lead over Marijampolė's "Sūduva," who are in third place.
Panevėžio "Aukštaitijos" stadium, 1000 spectators
Referee - Gediminas Mažeika
2 - 0
35' [1 - 0] Mantas Savėnas
79' [2 - 0] Mantas Savėnas (penalty kick)
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Paulauskas, Klimavičius, Skroblas; Michalčuks, Gardzijauskas (58' Kučys), Tomkevičius (75' Šlekys), Savėnas, Petrauskas (46' Varnas); Kavaliauskas, Lukšys
"Vilnius": Semež; Sokolovas (87' Freidgeimas), Khubutia, Everton; Lukša, Panka, Rinaldo (46' Adilson), Jovino, Radavičius; Paulinho, Muller (65' Akanni)
After a long break, defender Alfredas Skroblas returned to the Panevėžys lineup, and Virginijus Liubšys' team started the match with nearly their strongest lineup. "Vilnius," depleted by injuries, could not count on disqualified Darius Artiomovas, but they did have a recovered Andrejus Sokolovas in the defense line.
To prove their superiority over Vilnius, who are in eighth place, "Ekranas" needed 35 minutes. The team captain, Mantas Savėnas, broke his streak of five consecutive scoreless games in the league and put the hosts ahead at the "Aukštaitijos" stadium. Before the end of the match, M. Savėnas also converted a penalty kick, scoring his ninth goal of the season and solidifying "Ekranas" victory with a 2-0 result.
This victory allowed the Panevėžys team to extend their lead over "Sūduva" to 7 points with one less match played, and reduce the gap with the struggling "Kaunas" to 18 points. Meanwhile, Vilnius, suffering their seventh defeat, remains in eighth position and is 6 points behind the team one place above, "Šiauliai."
