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"Žalgiris" won against the guests from Pakruojis in a dramatic battle with a score of 2:1 in the quarterfinals of the LFF Cup. The match started without much observation. Soon, Andrius Velička had the first opportunity to score. After receiving a pass from Vaidotas Šilėnas, he tried to head the ball towards the goal, but Maris Eltermanis played reliably. In the 18th minute, one of the most dangerous shots in the first half of the match was taken by the players of "Kruoja" – Valdas Pocevičius tried to score. Soon after a penalty kick, Ričardas Beniušis also had his chance, but his shot was skillfully blocked by Armantas Vitkauskas. The first goal came in the 21st minute. Andro Švrljuga received a great pass, ran alone towards the goalkeeper, passed the ball to Andrius Velička, who scored into the empty net, but the referee raised the flag – the Croatian was offside. Just a few minutes later, Pakruojis players almost scored their own goal. After a corner kick, the visitors tried to head the ball towards the goal, but the referee spotted a foul on the hosts. Moments later, Žalgiris responded – after excellent passes from M. Kuklys and A. Švrljuga, A. Velička found himself in front of the goal again, but he failed to change the score. Another attack by the Vilnius team earned them a corner kick, after which Algis Jankauskas struck strongly but inaccurately. At the end of the first half, Žalgiris launched another positional attack, which was interrupted about 27 meters from the "Kruoja" goal. Paulius Janušauskas attempted to capitalize on this opportunity – and he did not miss. His fantastic shot left no chance for the Pakruojis goalkeeper M. Eltermanis, and the score became 1:0. The second half began with "Kruoja" players being much more active than the Vilnius team. They tried to press, occupy more territory, but did not create anything tangible. In the 63rd minute, Valdas Pocevičius equalized the score with a great shot into the corner of the goal after a pass from his teammate. However, "Kruoja" did not have much time to rejoice in the goal. Within two minutes, Žalgiris put so much pressure on the visitors that they couldn't resist for long – Mantas Kuklys once again led his team forward with a superb shot. Nevertheless, "Kruoja" was not willing to give up – a few minutes later, Giedrius Slavickas passed the ball to Ričardas Beniušis, who was very close to the goal and made a shot right next to it. In the 78th minute, Ričardas Beniušis had another great chance to score – he struck strongly towards the goal, but Armantas Vitkauskas played very reliably and saved his team from another goal. At the end of the match, the Pakruojis team tried to attack the Vilnius goal, but were prevented by the good defense of the hosts. However, the last seconds could have been decisive, as in Panevėžys. Luka Peričius, barely touching the opponent who provoked him, received a yellow card in the 90th minute in the penalty area. The referee also decided to award a penalty kick. Amid the players' and fans' outrage, the referee decided to consult with the linesman. After the conversation, it was decided not to award a penalty kick and to revoke the yellow card for Luka Peričius. In the remaining minutes, neither team was able to create anything dangerous, and the match ended with a victory for the green and whites. All results: "Žalgiris" 2 – 1 "Kruoja" 42‘ [1 – 0] P.Janušauskas 64‘ [1 – 1] V.Pocevičius 66‘ [2 – 1] M.Kuklys
