First league round: the anger of the injured leader and the crowd of outsiders

2023-09-08 12:59 © JumpStory

„Optibet First League“ participants were welcomed in autumn with loud chords. In the 21st round, Vilnius district's "TransInvest" achieved a record victory, while their closest pursuers approached and sprinkled more points. Meanwhile, the footballers of "Jonava" are trying to escape from the bottom of the table.

Train. Throughout the summer, the "Jonava" club had a forced break from victories in the "Optibet First League". In the midst of failures that included the people of Jonava in early June, they had eight losses and one draw. Without the Moldovan coach Cristiano Efros, the remaining Jonava team registered the club's director Eisvinas Utyra as head coach. Under his leadership, in the 21st round match against Kaunas district's "Garliava", the Jonava team took the lead in the 9th minute, but before the end of the half, they received a response from their former player Lukas Čepkauskas - 1:1. The outcome of the intense match was determined by striker Moustapha Ndiaye's goal in the 71st minute. For the 19-year-old legionnaire from Senegal, this was already his 7th goal in the championship.

Thanks to this victory, "Jonava" finally reached a double-digit number of points, and the gap from the closest teams - Kaunas and Vilnius young "Žalgiris" - became a single-digit number. The outsiders, who added a group of legionnaires from Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, and Ukraine in just August, are trying to escape the train of the "Optibet First League". To get out of the bottom, they have 9 matches left, and the gap is still significant - 7 points.

Beauty. The relegation of the outsiders in the group could have been even smaller, but "Kaunas Žalgiris" B surprised everyone. The Kaunas team, just before kicking off, fought for a point at home against Plungė's "Babrungas" which was in second place. The Samogitians took the lead after a minute with a lightning strike from Eridanas Bagužas, but Aidas Rybelis equalized at the end of the match, 1:1.

The youth of Vilnius "Žalgiris" lost 1:4 in Kėdainiai, and "Nevėžis" victory blacksmith became Aurimas Raginis. The 32-year-old goalkeeper scored two goals after the break, one of which became a real highlight of the round. The residents of Kėdainiai played a set piece on the right side, after which A. Raginis, from approximately 30 meters in a sharp angle, looped the ball into the top corner of the goal.

Path. "Nevėžis" returned to the third step with 38 points, as the previous Kretinga "Minija" at home did not resist Vilnius "Riteriai" B with a score of 0:3. The Samogitians with 36 points are in fourth place.

"Riteriai" B, thanks to their fifth victory in the last seven matches, significantly strengthened their position in the race for medals. Although the residents of Vilnius are far from the top five, they have as many as two games in hand, and in terms of lost points, they are on par with "Minija". If they continue their winning streak, Raimondas Vilėniškis' pupils would only be one win away from the second place. This position would allow "Riteriai" B to compete for a ticket to the A league. According to the competition regulations, the main and reserve teams of the same club cannot play in the A league, but the main "Riteriai" team is currently the main contender to climb out of the elite division.

Break. In fifth place with 35 points, the footballers of Marijampolė's "MML City" remained. The Suvalkians ended their home match with Vilnius BFA without goals. In addition, on Wednesday they played a postponed 14th round match at home against "Riteriai" B, where, after the first half, trailing 0:4, they turned to the referees, stating that they could not field 7 players needed for the second half, and when the time of the match came, they were absent from the field, so the referees interrupted the match, and at the moment an investigation by the LFF disciplinary committee is ongoing regarding the future of "MML City" in the league.

Among the contenders for medals are also Kaunas "Be1 NFA" and Klaipėda "Neptūnas". The people of Klaipėda played a draw with "Panevėžs" B, so they currently have 31 points. The situation for "Be1 NFA" is slightly more comfortable - 33 points and one match in hand. The Kaunas team defeated Panevezys "Ekranas" 1:0 at home on the weekend, climbing to 6th place after four consecutive victories.

All chasers can only envy the Vilnius district's "TransINVEST" team. Giedrius Barevičius' players outperform all competitors with a two-digit advantage. A week ago, after a bitter defeat in Kretinga (0:1), the residents of Vilnius unleashed their anger on the youth of "Šiauliai" B, crushing them with a record margin of 10:0. This week, "TransINVEST" awaits the most important test of the season - the LFF Cup semifinals against Telšiai's "Džiugas". Meanwhile, the remaining teams of the "Optibet First League" will have a break due to national team matches.