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On Sunday, the XXXV-th round of the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) "General Financing A lyga" competition ended with matches in Marijampolė. With just one round left until the end of the championship, Marijampolė's "Sūduva" secured the bronze, while the fate of the gold will most likely be decided in Pakruojis, where "Kruoja" will host Panevėžys "Ekranas".
Sūduva (Marijampolė) - Kruoja (Pakruojis) 1:1 (1:1) Referee: N.Dunauskas (Vilnius), 650 spectators Goals: 21 min. R.Ledesma ("Sūduva"); 38 min. S.Žygalov ("Kruoja") Warnings: 68 min. P.Lukšys, 72 min. A.Urbšys, 85 min. P.Leimonas ("Sūduva"); 55 min. D.Strockis, 57 min. D.Petrauskas ("Kruoja")
"Sūduva" had lost three times to "Kruoja" this season, but this time Marijampolė's team managed to secure a draw. Playing at home, "Sūduva" took the lead in the 21st season with a goal from Rafael Ledesma, who took advantage of a good pass from Valdemaras Borovskis. However, the hosts completely lost initiative after scoring, and paid dearly for it - before halftime, Nerijus Radžius found Ernestas Veliulis very actively engaging in the match, and after a great pass, Sergėjus Žigalovas equalized (1:1). The first half ended that way.
After the break, "Kruoja" played as if flying and completely dominated. "Sūduva" seemed lost and unsure of what to do. The hosts were unseen in the midfield, made many unforgivable mistakes in defense, and also struggled to launch quick counterattacks. "Kruoja" shook the opponents' crossbar twice from ideal positions, failed to convert three or four hundred percent chances to break ahead. It was the finishing that became the biggest problem. This time, "Kruoja" lacked the luck and centimeters needed to achieve victory.
The 1:1 draw means that Marijampolė's club maintained a two-point lead over "Kruoja", but they will not lose it anymore, as in the final round "Sūduva" will be awarded a technical victory against the "REO" team. Securing third place, "Sūduva" earned a ticket to the UEFA Europa League tournament, where they will play for the eighth consecutive year.
Ekranas (Panevėžys) - Atlantas (Klaipėda) 6:2 (1:1) Referee: D.Petraška (Ukmergė), 850 spectators Goals: 14 min. and 60 min. A.Vertelis, 56 min. (penalty) and 76 min. V.Kavaliauskas, 80 min. M.Samusiovas, 89 min. V.Lukša ("Ekranas"); 41 min. E.Razulis, 71 min. G.Žukauskas ("Atlantas") Warnings: 50 min. E.Baranauskas, 74 min. V.Kavaliauskas ("Ekranas"); 32 min. J.Vilavičius, 38 min. G.Kruša, 55 min. J.Rullier ("Atlantas")
Defending champions Panevėžys "Ekranas" maintained a one-point advantage over Vilnius "Žalgiris" before the final round. At home, the champions played two completely different halves and at the end of the match, they could relax - victory was already in their pocket. In the first half, Aurimas Vertelis scored first, but unexpectedly, Evaldas Razulis equalized. Gediminas Kruša found himself alone against the goalkeeper, O.Borysenko, saved his shot, but E.Razulis quickly followed up and sent the ball into the net. The most surprising thing in this episode was not the goal itself, but E.Razulis' reaction - he showed no joy, as if scoring goals in champions' nets five times a day.
The Banga match against Tauras was trouble on the field, where the ball constantly got stuck in the grass. In the fifth minute, the hosts were lucky - Roman Kuzin scored after a great pass from the young Luka Ankudinovas, and "Tauras" broke ahead (1:0).
"Banga" quickly recovered from this setback and controlled the ball longer, looking for ways to the opponents' goal. After long-range shots by Andrius Jokšas and Mandinho, the hosts were saved twice by Oleksandr Borysenko. "Tauras" tried to respond with counterattacks, but literally stumbled near the "Banga" penalty area.
The turning point came in the 43rd minute when M.Gudauskas jumped alone against the opponents' goalkeeper after a pass from the depth of the field. However, the "Tauras" defender was unable to take advantage of this situation as he was rudely stopped by Nicola Cutolo. For this action, the "Tauras" defender saw a red card. G.Alaverdashvili failed to punish the hosts immediately - his shot hit the crossbar.
From the first minutes of the second half, "Banga" overran the "Tauras" goal. Already in the 53rd minute, G.Nikabadze could have equalized, but luck turned away from the "Banga" legionnaire - his first shot was saved by O.Borysenko, and the ball hit the crossbar on the second attempt. Later, Simonas Urbys, G.Alaverdashvili, Mandinho had opportunities to send the ball into the goal, but luck or the reliable "Tauras" goalkeeper were missing.
However, in the 70th minute, G.Alaverdashvili was powerless when he shot from several meters after a pass from A.Jokšas - 1:1. The guests needed just a few minutes to score another goal - after Andrius Ivanauskas' header, Rokas Borusas scored from close range, putting "Banga" ahead - 1:2.
The efforts of the "Tauras" players to restore balance ended with another goal in their net. In the 84th minute, G.Alaverdashvili outpaced O.Borysenko and broke into the penalty area, sending the ball into the net - 1:3. The end of the match was "colorful" - in the 86th minute, the "Tauras" player was sent off for a rough action, and after three minutes, A.Jokšas saw yellow and red (for a second yellow).
Šiauliai (Šiauliai) - Dainava (Alytus) 3:3 (2:2) Referee: G.Mažeika (Kaunas), 180 spectators Goals: 1 min., 12 min. (penalty), and 89 min. A.Rimkevičius ("Šiauliai"); 16 min. L.Baranauskas, 45 min. (penalty) P.Sakalis, 67 min. M.Strauka ("Dainava")
The match started with Artūras Rimkevičius scoring early goals before a minute passed. The forward took the ball from the inattentive "Dainava" defenders and confused the goalkeeper to send it into an empty goal. The second goal also did not take long - after ten minutes, the same A.Rimkevičius converted a penalty (2:0). The hosts, who prematurely believed in victory, were harshly punished by a "Dainava" team that transitioned excellently from defense to attack, restoring parity before halftime. First, Lukas Baranauskas scored, and later Paulius Sakalis converted a penalty (2:2).
After the break, "Dainava" continued to play good football and in the 67th minute overturned the result. This time, Mindaugas Strauka triumphed (3:2). For a while, it seemed that the match would end that way, but in the 89th minute, Artūras Rimkevičius scored a beautiful goal (3:3). It was already the 35th goal by Artūras Rimkevičius in this season.
