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The first semi-final match of the Federation Cup between Marijampolė's "Sūduva" and Vilnius' "Žalgiris" ended with a minimal 1-0 victory for the hosts at the Vilnius stadium.
After the match, "Sūduva" head coach Virginijus Liubšys said:
"Perhaps the result of the match is fair. However, I think that in the second half we played better, had opportunities, and the match could have ended differently. The advantage of 'Žalgiris' is this pitch, they are used to it. In the return match, we will be the hosts, we will welcome them where we are accustomed to playing. I believe that nothing is finished, I trust my team. I think there will be a different result in the next matches."
The coach mentioned that in this match, his team played better in the midfield compared to the previous match against "Žalgiris".
"I think we really played better in the midfield, gave a close fight. Of course, the advantage of 'Žalgiris' is this pitch, where the ball rolls absolutely differently than in other Lithuanian pitches. The men fought well today and I want to thank them for that," - said the "Sūduva" strategist.
Vilnius' "Žalgiris" coach Damiras Petravičius said:
"Today was a tough match. 'Sūduva' showed that they are a good team. We scored a goal, had 3-4 great chances. In the second half, we looked worse, but the most important thing is that we won. 'Sūduva' played better than last time against us."
