© EuroFootball.com
On Monday, a friendly meeting took place at the "Sportimos" arena in Vilnius between Vilnius' "Vėtra" and "Šiauliai". The capital's club secured a convincing 2-0 victory.
"Vėtra" 2 - 0 "Šiauliai"
36' [1 - 0] Lima Severino
62' [2 - 0] Denis Celiuk
"Vėtra": Žutautas, Sulejmanovic, Skerla, Budimir, Jankauskas (46‘ Andrej Usačiov), Sasnauskas (46' Vėževičius), Pedro (46' Šernas), Božinovski, Butrimavičius (46‘ Tarchanov), Azizi (79' R.Karčemarskas), Severino (46‘ Celiuk)
"Šiauliai": G.Arlauskis; Sokolov, Žukauskas, Lunskis, Juodeikis; Šilėnas (73' Garuckas), Širmelis, Rinaldo, Tarasov, Garuckas ((46' D.Arlauskis) 71' M.Lukoševičius)); Blažys
"Vėtra", due to illnesses, played with an experimental lineup in this match, while "Šiauliai", with the return of players from training camp, had defenders like Andrejus Sokolovas of Vilnius, former Tallinn "TVMK" guard Gintas Širmelis, Vilnius' Brazilian Rinaldo, and "Vėtra" forward Edvinas Blažys.
The first serious threat towards the opponents' goal came in the 14th minute from Lima Severino, whose long-range shot flew over the bar, and shortly after a corner, Andrius Skerla's header missed the target.
In the 24th minute, Maksutas Azizi broke through on the left side of the penalty area but missed the target. Around half an hour into the game, "Šiauliai" also had a chance to score, but Deividas Lunskis' shot was saved by goalkeeper Vaidas Žutautas, and the follow-up attempt by the away team's defender was off target.
Later, Severino posed a threat with a dangerous header after a corner, which in the 36th minute put "Vėtra" ahead - Almiras Sulejmanovic passed the ball to the Brazilian in the penalty area, and he sent the ball into the empty net with a strong strike.
A few minutes before the break, Gediminas Butrimavičius had a dangerous shot from the edge of the penalty area, but the ball flew over the crossbar. Just before the end of the half, Pedro received a pass from Bobo Božinovski, found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, deceived him, was brought down, and won a penalty. Božinovski took the penalty but hit the post, and the score remained 1-0 in favor of the hosts.
During halftime, "Vėtra" coach Aleksandras Tarchanovas made five substitutions - Andrejus Usačiovas, Robertas Vėževičius, Darvydas Šernas, Jurijus Tarchanovas, and Denis Celiukas entered the field, while "Šiauliai" replaced Aurimas Garuckas with David Arlauskis.
At the start of the second half, the game was more centered in the midfield, and around the hour mark, "Vėtra" scored a second goal - after a pass from the right flank, D.Celiukas beat Šiauliai's goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis.
In the final part of the match, "Šiauliai" mounted several attacks and threatened the goal defended by Vaidas Žutautas with shots from distance - Mindaugas Lukoševičius, Gediminas Timinskas, and a quick counterattack from "Vėtra" failed to result in a goal for D.Celiukas. The match ended with "Vėtra" winning 2-0.
"Vėtra" strategist Aleksandras Tarchanovas stated after the game that they had to play with such a lineup due to illnesses affecting the team, but he was pleased with the performance of those who took the field.
Meanwhile, "Šiauliai" coach Darius Magdišauskas told EuroFootball.com that the match highlighted the lack of finishing quality among the attackers: "Goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders followed the plan, but the lack of finishing quality from our attackers was evident," said Darius Magdišauskas.
The coach expressed his desire to finalize the team's lineup in the near future so that they could prepare for the new season of "A Lyga" starting in April.
When asked about the foreign players participating in the trial, the coach said: "I can't say whether we would loan or buy players - I just tell the club management which players would be interesting or necessary for me, and they will handle everything. However, I wouldn't want to comment on the playing performance of the trial participants - sometimes one performs better in one game, another in the next," said D.Magdišauskas.
