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Today, on Wednesday, the final of the Lithuanian Football Federation Cup took place in Šiauliai, where the leader of the "A-League" "Kaunas" met the third-placed Klaipėda "Atlantas". After a tense battle and a penalty shootout, the victory was celebrated by the people of Kaunas, who preserved the opportunity to win the double.
0 - 0 (Main time 0-0, extra time 0-0, penalty shootout 1-2)
Penalty shootout: A.Velička ("Kaunas") missed [0-0] L.Pilibaitis ("Atlantas") missed [0-0] K.Ivaškevičius ("Kaunas") missed [0-0] A.Laurišas ("Atlantas") missed [0-0] R.Beniušis ("Kaunas") scored [0-1] E.Žukauskas ("Atlantas") scored [1-1] A.Kšanavičius ("Kaunas") missed [1-1] T.Labukas ("Atlantas") missed [1-1] E.Poderis ("Kaunas") scored [1-2] V.Alunderis ("Atlantas") missed [1-2]
About 300 spectators gathered at the Šiauliai city stadium to watch the cup final. "Atlantas" started the match more actively and tried to shoot from afar several times, with the ball flying past the goals after M.Karaliaus' attempt.
The first opportunity of the match was for the "Kaunas" forward R.Beniušis, but he couldn't hit the ball running alone against the goalkeeper. Soon the goalkeeper of Kaunas had to defend against the opponents' penalty shot.
As the first half drew to a close, the Klaipėda players became more active, but they did not create anything more dangerous. In the other half of the field, L.Valius had to fend off K.Ivaškevičius' attempt to pass the goalkeeper, and Papečkio's shot flew wide of the goal.
After the break, K.Ivaškevičius threatened the opponents' goals again, but this time his shot went wide. In the 55th minute, D.Sanajevas had a corner opportunity, but his header attempt was slightly off target. Just a few minutes later, T.Papečkys was close to the goal, but his off-ground shot missed by a whisker.
After playing for over an hour, the ball was sent towards the goal by R.Beniušis, but the referee signaled an offside and the goal was not counted. Ten minutes later, A.Velička's shot was dangerous, but L.Valius managed to save it on the second attempt. Soon after, a dangerous counterattack was launched by "Atlantas", and A.Laurišas was just inches away from scoring. The main time ended peacefully, so the teams had to play extra time.
At the beginning of the first extra time period, the people of Kaunas attacked more, and L.Valius had to fend off several "Kaunas" forwards' shots. The quality of the field suffered due to rain, making it difficult for the teams to launch more accurate attacks.
In the second half of extra time, "Atlantas" took the initiative, but once again they failed to attack more sharply. At the end of extra time, L.Valius was called into action again - he defended against a dangerous shot from A.Velička.
Since neither team was able to score, the winner had to be determined in a penalty shootout. The first four attempts from the 11m. mark were unsuccessful, then R.Beniušis and E.Žukauskas scored accurately, A.Kšanavičius and T.Labukas failed to score, and the victory for "Kaunas" was decided by E.Poderis' successful penalty and V.Alunderio's subsequent inaccurate shot.
You can watch the match recording on TangoTV (21:35) and TV3 (23:15).
