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After a 2-0 victory against Klaipėda's "Atlantas," Panevėžys "Ekrantas" head coach Valdas Urbonas noted that when forming the starting lineup, he could have chosen from a larger pool of players, but during the match, they failed to capitalize on opportunities, leading to tension in the second half. Fortunately, they managed to use a couple of moments and achieve victory. "Atlantas" head coach Romualdas Norkus hoped that the team's desire and fighting spirit would compensate for the lack of skill and lead to a positive result, but a lack of concentration resulted in missed goals and defeat.
"Ekrantas" head coach Valdas Urbonas: "Looking at the tournament table, the teams are on opposite sides of the table. Logically, we have to beat that team, but "Atlantas" tried, in games against such teams, the first goal is necessary, then it eases the game, takes the sting out of the opponents. Skill, luck was lacking in good situations, sometimes it seemed like there was nowhere to put the ball, only to shoot at the goal.
We put in a lot of work, the movement of the team, ball movement, the rhythm of the game was there. Tension was felt in the second half, the match went into the second half. It is pleasing that we found those opportunities and used them, achieving victory. This is very important to us, considering how the last away match ended. We knew we needed to win today. We already had a larger selection of players, Aurimas Kučys and Yani Urdinov returned. They added solidity and competence to our game. These are positive aspects. Now we just need to catch our breath and prepare for the upcoming home matches against "Dainava."
R. Radavičius and A. Velička were substituted because if we look at their playing practice, this month they really have too much of it. If all the teams or most of the players managed to relax, they didn't have time to rest. In a short period, they played many matches, and not of a lower but high, international level. We wanted to protect them from the load, home matches await on Wednesday."
"Atlantas" head coach Romualdas Norkus: "First, I would like to congratulate the "Ekrantas" coach on the victory. They played a beautiful match, with a spark. It seemed like the team was missing football. Today we chose a tactic according to our capabilities, we don't have exceptional players to lead the team forward. Today we hoped that desire, discipline, fighting spirit would compensate for the lack of skill. If we could have released two goalkeepers, we would have. In the first half, things went very well for us, I haven't seen experienced players waste such opportunities in a long time.
In the second half, in the 56th minute, Žilvinas Kymantas broke away, had a chance to score. If he had scored a goal, it would have been interesting. However, it would have been additional emotions, the team would mobilize and focus to maintain the result. It's a shame that at some point we lost concentration, a good team should do that. Lack of concentration, you miss one, two goals. The match was lost, we can't seem to move forward in any way, as if the biggest hurdle wouldn't let us move."
