© EuroFootball.com
On Saturday, the winner of the "A League" was determined in Panevezys, where the local team "Ekranas" clashed with their eternal rivals in a battle for the first place against FBK "Kaunas".
On the eve of this match, a scandal erupted as NFKA decided to disqualify "Ekranas" from the championship for unclear reasons and award "Kaunas" the victory. However, both teams expressed their desire to play, and the Lithuanian Football Federation intervened, deciding that the match must take place, with procedural decisions to be revisited the following week.
These events further fueled the atmosphere and made the match even more anticipated. The "Ekranas" club, wanting to receive strong support for their team, decided to allow spectators into the stadium for free, and the match was even broadcast live on two television channels.
As befitting such an important match, both teams started cautiously. The hosts were slightly more active on the pitch, but they struggled to break through the defense of "Kaunas". The first attempt on goal was made by the Panevezys team - M.Savėnas breached the penalty area but shot inaccurately under pressure from the defender. The most dangerous player among the Kaunas team was S.Mikoliūnas, and in the 19th minute, he made a dangerous pass across the penalty area, but no one rushed to the ball, and it rolled out of play.
Soon after, "Ekranas" responded with a dangerous attack when A.Kučio's shot from the penalty area flew straight towards goalkeeper E.Kurskis. Just four minutes later, after a penalty kick by Savėnas, A.Klimavičius' shot flew next to the goal. In the 33rd minute, another dangerous attack by the hosts occurred, but Žutautas brought down Kučys on the penalty area line, although nothing dangerous came out of the resulting free-kick.
However, the best chance to take the lead in the first half belonged to the visitors - in the 41st minute, T.Papečkys sent a cross from the left, and Mikoliūnas' header towards the bottom corner was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper A.Skrupskis.
After halftime, "Kaunas" made some important changes by bringing in A.Gedgaudas and A.Velička, which turned out to be a crucial and correct decision by coach V.Ivanauskas. At the start of the second half, Mikoliūnas found himself again in the attacking sector, and his shot from 20 meters was too much for Skrupskis to handle, resulting in the ball being knocked out for a corner.
The decisive moment of the match came 11 minutes into the second half: Gedgaudas earned a penalty on the right, Papečkys lifted the ball into the penalty area, and Velička put the ball into the net as Skrupskis hesitated in his reaction. This goal meant that "Ekranas" had to equalize urgently, and the Panevezys team started attacking the opponents' goal.
In the 68th minute, after a beautiful combination, Savėnas took a shot from 18 meters, but his attempt did not trouble the goalkeeper much. Later, the players of both teams began to show signs of fatigue, and no dangerous opportunities were created; the game mostly took place in the middle of the field.
The match reached its climax with about five minutes remaining, during which the hosts launched a final assault. In the 86th minute, a penalty was awarded, and Savėnas sent the ball into the penalty area; one player headed it towards the far post, where Banevičius, who arrived free, missed a chance to reach the ball. A minute later, Kučys broke through on the wing and passed the ball to K.Mykolaitis, but the latter was blocked by Kurskis. In this last episode, the young Panevezys player got injured, and Kučys, who appealed to the referee, received his second yellow card and was sent off the field.
In the last ten minutes, "Ekranas" faltered and conceded a penalty in extra time. Gedgaudas deceived Banevičius in the penalty area, and he brought down the opponent - a penalty kick was awarded, which Velička converted to secure the victory for his team.
The clear outcome did not satisfy the "Ekranas" supporters, who even started throwing bottles onto the field, leading to clashes between them and the "Kaunas" fans. At the end of the match, the referee struggled to control the situation. The Kaunas team, unable to celebrate for long, quickly left the field with the champions' trophy, which had remained with their owner for the sixth consecutive year.
