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Only after last year's first UEFA Cup qualifying round matches, Lithuanian vice-champion Panevėžys "Ekranas" narrowly defeated the guests from Luxembourg "F91 Dudelange" with a score of 1-0.
The only goal of the match was scored by Panevėžys player Mindaugas Gardzijauskas in the 39th minute.
The teams started the match cautiously and mostly tried to attack from afar. The first attempt was made by Savėnas, but his shot from 18 meters went wide.
In the 14th minute, Kazlauskas committed a foul near the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick that Hugas missed. Three minutes later, Tomkevičius approached the opponents' goal, played a wall pass, and took a shot, but missed again.
With 10 minutes left until halftime, Saboga tried his luck from a distance, and goalkeeper Skrupskis managed to catch the ball on the second attempt. Two minutes later, the guests launched a dangerous attack on the left side, but fortunately, Hugas failed to make the final shot.
Fortunately, this time the saying "if you don't score, they will" came true - Kavaliauskas passed the ball to Gardzijauskas in the penalty area, and he sent the ball into the corner of the goal from about 13 meters away.
Soon after a defensive mistake, Gruszczynskis missed the chance to score, and in the last minute of the first half, after a penalty kick, a pass went into the penalty area, but Tomkevičius headed the ball inaccurately.
"Ekranas" started the second half more actively, and in the second minute, Banevičius had a chance to head the ball. Two minutes later, Kučio's shot from 20 meters went wide.
In the 53rd minute, a penalty kick was awarded on the left side, Savėnas lifted the ball, but Kučio failed to head it towards the goal. After that, the teams exchanged two long-range shots, both saved by the goalkeepers.
In the 64th minute, Hugas took a long shot, and the ball flew just above the goal. Twelve minutes later, Lukšys broke through the defenders and scored the second goal, but the referee disallowed it due to an offside by the Panevėžys forward.
The match gradually calmed down, and no one managed to create more dangerous moments. The referee added four minutes, during which Panevėžys players were pressed to their goal. They almost managed to equalize the score when Tamiras took a shot from 30 meters, but Skrupskis redirected the ball with his fingertips beyond the goal line.
"Ekranas" secured a hard-fought victory and now in the return match, happening in two weeks, they will have to strive to maintain the minimal advantage they gained.
