The Lithuanian national football team did not allow Poland to leave for the European Championship with victorious moods. In the match held in Cracow, the Lithuanians sent a serious warning to the Poles and fought to earn a deserved 0:0 draw. Arvydas Novikovas could have put us ahead right at the beginning of the match, but the Poles only stepped up their attack in the second half. In the middle of it, Polish star Jakub Blaszczykowski hit the crossbar. Opportunity in the first minute After the previous match, the Lithuanian team made two changes in the starting lineup - Georgas Freidgeimas and Rolandas Baravykas appeared in defense, while Artūras Žulpa joined the midfield. The Lithuanians could have taken the lead as early as 16 seconds into the game, when after a precise combination Arvydas Novikovas found himself free at the edge of the penalty area, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. In the first half, the Lithuanian defense practically did not allow the Poles to create dangerous opportunities, while our counterattacks were sharp and caused worry to the opponents' defenders. In the 16th minute, Vykintas Slivka had a chance, but his shot from the penalty area was blocked by a defender. In the 33rd minute, A. Novikovas tried to score from a penalty kick and the ball flew over the goal. In the 38th minute, after a Polish attack, the ball was headed away by Edvinas Girdvainis, and a couple more home attacks were stopped by goalkeeper Emilijus Zubas. Just before the break, after a weak pass from Manto Kuklys, Poland had their only real chance - luckily, Kamil Grosicki missed the goal after passing the ball past E. Zubas. Shaken up the goal The Lithuanian team started the second half confidently, but lacked accuracy in a couple of promising attacks. Later on, the Poles tried to threaten three times after set pieces, but all three shots did not pose a great danger. In the 59th minute, the hosts were closest to scoring when Jakub Blaszczykowski deceived a defender at the edge of the penalty area and hit the goal frame with a strong shot. Continuing the attack, G. Freidgeimas blocked another dangerous shot towards the goal. In the 68th minute, Polish goalkeeper Arturas Borucas had to work - he blocked a shot from Nerijus Valskis from the penalty area. Defended against the attack The guests of the match gained strength, while the hosts increased the intensity and pressure around the Lithuanian goal. In the 74th minute, Jakub Wawrzyniak took a shot from afar, in the 77th minute E. Zubas saved the ball after Arkadiusz Milik's penalty shot, and in the 78th minute, after a corner kick, the Poles hit their own teammate. In the 83rd minute, a Polish goal was disallowed for a foul on Egidijus Vaitkūnas, and in the 84th minute Slawomir Peszko missed the goal from the edge of the penalty area. The Polish attack in the last minutes did not bear fruit - Edvinas Girdvainis interrupted their attacks perfectly at least twice. The next planned match for the Lithuanian national team is the World Cup qualification match against Slovenia on September 4 in Vilnius. Poland - Lithuania 0:0 H. Reymann Stadium, Krakow, 33,000 spectators Referee - Filip Glova (Slovakia) Yellow cards: 79 min. Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland); 3 min. Rolandas Baravykas, 61 min. Georgas Freidgeimas, 79 min. Dovydas Norvilas, 83 min. Egidijus Vaitkūnas (Lithuania). Starting lineup of the Lithuanian national team: Zubas, Vaitkūnas, Girdvainis, Freidgeimas, Baravykas, Žulpa, Slivka, Kuklys, Novikovas, Černych, Spalvis. Substitutes: Šetkus, Rapalis, A.Klimavičius, L.Klimavičius, V.Slavickas, D. Česnauskis, Beneta, Norvilas, Lukša, Paulius, Kazlauskas, Valskis Starting lineup of the Polish national team: Fabianski, Kapustka, Glik, Cionek, Wawrzyniak, Blaszczykowski, Krychowiak, Maczynski, Grosicki, Starzynski, Milik.
