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The second leg of the Lithuanian Football Federation Cup semi-finals ended quite unexpectedly on Tuesday - after draws in the first matches, the "Kaunas" and "Vėtra" clubs, who played as guests, won their second matches and secured their spots in the tournament final.
The intriguing duel between the leaders of Lithuanian football in recent years, "Ekrano", who tops the "A Lyga", and the defending champions "Kaunas" in Panevėžys, saw the guests take the lead in the 74th minute with a strong shot by G. Barevičius.
Since the first match ended without goals, "Ekrano" needed to score twice in a short time to overcome their opponents. However, the hosts could not break through the visitors' defense and had to acknowledge the advantage of "Kaunas". Interestingly, this was the first victory of the season for the team coached by I. Pankratjevas against their main rivals from Panevėžys, which brought even more joy to the team.
"After the match, we were all very happy. It's great because the result is positive, the emotions are good, and the psychological attitude is excellent. I can't single out anyone from our team, everyone fought well and deserved praise. The players who came on as substitutes also integrated well into the game," said the head coach of "Kaunas', Igoris Pankratjevas.
The winning team's coach stated that he couldn't remember such LFF Cup semifinal matches where the teams had so many good scoring opportunities: "We managed to capitalize on one opportunity, and that's why we won."
Unfortunately for "Kaunas", their defender Tadas Papečkis was not successful in this match. At the end of the first half, he suffered a cut on his eyebrow and had to be taken to the hospital where he received six stitches to close the wound.
In the other pair, the struggling Klaipėda "Atlantas", which scored an away goal in the first leg, faced Vilnius "Vėtra", who played at home in the second leg. In a tense match, the only goal was scored with a header by A. Steško, and despite having a numerical advantage, "Atlantas" failed to take full advantage as they had to play with ten men for the entire second half due to A. Sivinskij's dismissal.
So, in the LFF Cup final on the evening of October 22nd at Vilnius "Vėtra" stadium, the home team will face the "Kaunas" club attempting to defend their title. The exact time of the match will be determined when it is clear which TV channel will broadcast the game.
LFF Cup semi-final results
0 - 1
(First leg 1-1, aggregate result 1-2)
9` [0 - 1] Artūras Steško
43` A. Sivinskij ("Vėtra") sent off
0 - 1
(First leg 0-0, aggregate result 0-1)
74` [0 - 1] Giedrius Barevičius
