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Vilnius city football club "Žalgiris" players, after defeating Alytus "Dainava" team 4:0 at the LFF stadium, finished the first round of the "General financing" A league championship in second place.
The home team dominated the entire match much more than their opponents, scoring two goals in each half.
In the 20th minute, Mantas Kuklys made a perfect pass to Calum Elliot, who scored accurately from a great position.
In the 36th minute, M. Kuklys again made a productive pass, this time to Vaidas Šilėnas, whose shot was right on target.
VMFD "Žalgiris" did not wait long in the second half, and in the 56th minute scored the third goal. C. Elliot, who scored for the second time, was assisted by Tomislavas Pekas from the right side.
The Vilnius team scored the fourth goal at the end of the match. In the 84th minute, Mario Grgurovičius accurately and beautifully executed a penalty kick.
"Before the match, I never expect that you will go into the field and easily win. The attitude was maximal. We managed to score a goal, and then – another. It made the game easier. The team held the ball well, and that's why we won," explained the reason for the victory, V. Šilėnas.
VMFD "Žalgiris" played very important Lithuanian Football Federation Cup semifinal response match with Marijampolės "Sūduva" on Wednesday. V. Šilėnas stated that the team's fatigue after the midweek game did not affect the performances: "There is always fatigue after tough matches. But we prepared seriously for these matches, managed to focus, and fatigue did not affect them."
The goalkeeper who scored against "Dainava" is not completely satisfied with his performance.
"I don't feel yet that I have achieved my optimal form one hundred percent, but with every match, it gets better. However, I expect even better results," said V. Šilėnas.
He admitted that it is easier to play for his team at their own stadium.
"Here we are more cohesive. When we go elsewhere, the pitch may be narrower or different in some other way, and we struggle," said the Žalgiris player.
FK "Dainava" goalkeeper Valentinas Baranovskis admitted that VMFD "Žalgiris" played much better than Alytus team: "The result truly reflects the game. "Žalgiris" was significantly stronger than us today. The opponents showed that they are truly worthy to fight for the championship titles."
According to the footballer, "Dainava" struggles to play against both "Žalgiris" and other top football leaders in the country.
"We always lose to all the leaders. This is our biggest problem, which prevents us from climbing higher in the tournament table – we cannot play well against the leaders, unlike some other teams like "Šiauliai," whom we beat. It's really hard for us to compete against "Žalgiris" – they are a truly strong team with many good foreign players," praised the "Dainava" goalkeeper.
The coach of the home team, Mindaugas Čepas, believes that preparation for the match and the players' efforts helped to win against "Dainava": "As we do for every match, we prepared very responsibly, analyzed both "Dainava's" offense and defense, looked for the "weak spots" in their game that we could exploit. The players dedicated themselves one hundred percent to these matches."
Strategist Damir Petravičius' assistant stated that the cup semifinal match could not harm the team's game against the team from Alytus.
"Judging by how the team looks in training, how they move – everything is going according to plan. We have 25 excellent players, each of whom is eager to fight, and there are no problems," said M. Čepas.
