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On Saturday, during the 12th round of the tournament, Vilnius "Žalgiris" won 2-0 against the tournament's outsiders, "Šilutės" football players, at home. This victory was a revenge for the goalless match in the first round in Šilutė.
Vilnius "Žalgiris" stadium Referee - Edmundas Gaigalas Vilnius 2 - 0 31' [1 - 0] Eimantas Poderis 62' [2 - 0] Igoris Morinas
"Žalgiris": Rapalis; Choruži, I.Steško, Ngapounou, Lukoševičius (73' Dubina); Morinas, Vilėniškis, Ostap, Bursuc; Poderis (68' Lemežis), Misiuk (54' Mižigurskis)
"Šilutė": L.Vertelis; Brezina, Khubutia (65; Ostreika), Kijanskas, Vaikasas; Zubavičius, Vičius, Bezykornovas (76; Petkevičius), Kovačev, Stinga (46; Valskis); Normantas
The match started more actively for "Žalgiris", and in the very first minute after Eimantas Poderis' free kick from the left side of the penalty area, Raimondas Vilėniškis missed a chance to send the ball into the net with a single touch above the goal.
For "Šilutės" footballers, it was difficult to attack, and their attacks often ended without reaching the penalty area of Žalgiris - this happened in the fourth minute of the match when Vygantas Zubavičius weakly and very inaccurately struck from outside the penalty area.
Just a minute later, the "Žalgiris" players and the fans in the stadium demanded a penalty kick when "Šilutės" defender Ivanas Brezina brought down Nikolajus Misiukas in the penalty area, but the referee remained silent.
Meanwhile, outside the field, there was a bizarre incident - wondering why "FBK Kauno" consultant Eduardas Malofejevas was not included in the match protocol, the stadium announcer, while seated on the substitute bench for the opposing team, was removed from the technical area by the assistant referee Marijus Jazbutis.
In the 10th minute of the match, after a break of one minute, the Moldovan Julian Bursucas, who returned to the lineup for Žalgiris, tried his luck from a distance, but his shot went over the goal.
Due to the high temperature on the field, the players of both teams played rather passively, preferring to pass the ball to their teammates rather than trying to attack the opponents' goal.
In the middle of the match, "Žalgiris" could have taken the lead, but Eimantas Poderis failed to control the ball in the penalty area, and later, powerful shots from him and J.Bursucas hit the opponents. In response, "Šilutė" attempted a penalty shot from Akaki Khubutia from about 40 meters, but the low-flying ball did not trouble Marius Rapalis.
On the 30th minute, N.Misiukas was brought down in the penalty area by A.Khubutia, and this time, the referee did not hesitate to award a penalty kick, which E.Poderis successfully converted into the middle of the goal. This goal was celebrated by the fans in the stadium since it was the 1000th goal for "Žalgiris" in 490 club matches in the Lithuanian championship.
After the goal, the "Žalgiris" players slowed down the pace even more, while "Šilutė" struggled to find a way to the opponents' goal, so there were no dangerous moments created until the break - only a somewhat unthreatening shot by Marius Bezykornovas from 25 meters into the Žalgiris goal.
In the second half, the players continued to appear very passive, and both teams' coaches decided to introduce new players: Nerijus Valskis appeared for "Šilutė", and Valerijus Mižigurskis replaced N.Misiuk for "Žalgiris."
However, with such a slow game pace, the hosts needed to be careful in the second half, especially when a player from the opposing team broke through the right side and successfully passed the ball to his teammate from the rear line, but V.Zubavičius, who was right in front of the goal, missed the shot from about five meters.
Yet, five minutes later, the end of the match almost became clear - Igoris Morinas, the defender of the Lithuanian national team, received the ball in the center of the penalty area and, turning around, outplayed the "Šilutės" goalkeeper Laurynas Vertelis.
Trailing 0-2, the players from Šilutė tried even harder to attack, and this almost paid off in the 69th minute when M.Bezykornovas found himself free in the center of the penalty area after a pass from V.Zubavičius from the left side, but the defender shot directly at the "Žalgiris" goalkeeper.
It seemed that both teams were waiting for the referee's whistle announcing the end of the match, and "Žalgiris" could have further increased its lead towards the end of the second half: at first, V.Mižigurskis missed from a distance, and with less than five minutes to play, J.Bursucas failed to direct Igoris Steško's shot/pass towards the goal.
